E2F Transcription Factors Control the Roller Coaster Ride of Cell Cycle Gene Expression

Initially, the E2F transcription factor was discovered as a factor able to bind the adenovirus E2 promoter and activate viral genes. Afterwards it was shown that E2F also binds to promoters of nonviral genes such as C-MYC and DHFR, which were already known at that time to be important for cell growth and DNA metabolism, respectively. These findings provided the first clues that the E2F transcription factor might be an important regulator of the cell cycle. Since this initial discovery in 1987, several additional E2F family members have been identified, and more than 100 targets genes have been shown to be directly regulated by E2Fs, the majority of these are important for controlling the cell cycle.
Source: Springer protocols feed by Cell Biology - Category: Cytology Source Type: news