The retinoblastoma protein as a transcriptional repressor.

The retinoblastoma protein (pRB) is one of the best-studied tumour suppressor gene products. Its loss during the genesis of many human tumours, its inactivation by several DNA tumour virus oncoproteins, and its ability to inhibit cell growth when introduced into dividing cells all suggest that pRB negatively regulates some aspect of normal cell growth. The discovery that pRB associates with transcription factors such as E2F has provided the first model for pRB function. In this review, we discuss how pRB may regulate cell growth by repressing transcription of genes essential for cell proliferation.