Roles of pRB in the Regulation of Nucleosome and Chromatin Structures

Biomed Res Int. 2016:2016:5959721. doi: 10.1155/2016/5959721. Epub 2016 Dec 22.

Abstract

Retinoblastoma protein (pRB) interacts with E2F and other protein factors to play a pivotal role in regulating the expression of target genes that induce cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and differentiation. pRB controls the local promoter activity and has the ability to change the structure of nucleosomes and/or chromosomes via histone modification, epigenetic changes, chromatin remodeling, and chromosome organization. Functional inactivation of pRB perturbs these cellular events and causes dysregulated cell growth and chromosome instability, which are hallmarks of cancer cells. The role of pRB in regulation of nucleosome/chromatin structures has been shown to link to tumor suppression. This review focuses on the ability of pRB to control nucleosome/chromatin structures via physical interactions with histone modifiers and chromatin factors and describes cancer therapies based on targeting these protein factors.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Apoptosis*
  • Cell Cycle Checkpoints*
  • Cell Differentiation*
  • Chromosomal Instability*
  • E2F Transcription Factors / genetics
  • E2F Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation*
  • Histones / genetics
  • Histones / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Nucleosomes / genetics
  • Nucleosomes / metabolism*
  • Retinoblastoma Protein / genetics
  • Retinoblastoma Protein / metabolism*

Substances

  • E2F Transcription Factors
  • Histones
  • Nucleosomes
  • Retinoblastoma Protein