Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Dissecting The Molecular Role Of Distinct Binding Interfaces On The Retinoblastoma Tumor Suppressor In Growth Control And Tumorigenesis., Matthew J. Cecchini

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (pRB) functions to maintain proliferative control and act as a barrier to tumorigenesis. pRB is capable of regulating E2F transcription factors to mediate control of proliferation through transcriptional regulation of S-phase target gene expression. In addition, pRB can stabilize the CDK inhibitor p27 through an interaction with two ubiquitin ligase complexes. Further, pRB is capable of forming a unique interaction with E2F1 termed the ‘specific’ interaction that is capable of blocking E2F1 induced apoptosis. These functions of pRB are mediated by distinct binding interfaces and their contributions to the overall functionality of pRB are not …