The retinoblastoma protein: multitasking to suppress tumorigenesis

The retinoblastoma protein: multitasking to suppress tumorigenesis

Tumor suppressor activity of the retinoblastoma protein pRB is preserved despite loss of interaction with E2F transcription factors (E2F) or proteins harboring a leucine-x-cysteine-x-glutamic acid motif (LxCxE, where x is any amino acid). This indicates that pRB uses several parallel pathways to suppress tumorigenesis, which may also include E2F- and LxCxE-independent interactions.

Surprising dependency for retinoblastoma protein in ras-mediated tumorigenesis.

Agl, The Multitasking Motor Protein

It slices, it dices, it cleans the kitchen sink. We’ve all heard of—and hailed the ingenious efficiency of—devices that perform more than one function. But humans don’t have the corner on that market. A team led by Tâm Mignot and Morgane Wartel recently discovered that when the going gets rough, a common soilinhabiting bacterium, Myxococcus xanthus, repurposes a molecule that’s integral to the ...

USP44 regulates centrosome positioning to prevent aneuploidy and suppress tumorigenesis.

Most human tumors have abnormal numbers of chromosomes, a condition known as aneuploidy. The mitotic checkpoint is an important mechanism that prevents aneuploidy by restraining the activity of the anaphase-promoting complex (APC). The deubiquitinase USP44 was identified as a key regulator of APC activation; however, the physiological importance of USP44 and its impact on cancer biology are unk...

A Context-Specific Role for Retinoblastoma Protein-Dependent Negative Growth Control in Suppressing Mammary Tumorigenesis

BACKGROUND The ability to respond to anti-growth signals is critical to maintain tissue homeostasis and loss of this negative growth control safeguard is considered a hallmark of cancer. Negative growth regulation generally occurs during the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle, yet the redundancy and complexity among components of this regulatory network has made it difficult to discern how negative ...