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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Analysis of Cell Cycle Position in Mammalian Cells
Published on: January 21, 2012
Phosphorylation of a specific cdk site in E2F-1 affects its electrophoretic mobility and promotes pRB-binding in
D S Peeper1, P Keblusek, K Helin
1Department of Molecular Carcinogenesis, Sylvius Laboratory, University of Leiden, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
The E2F transcription factor family participates in growth control presumably through transcriptional activation of genes that promote entry into S phase. E2F activity is believed to be controlled across the cell cycle by association with various cellular proteins, including the product of the retinoblastoma gene (pRB). We find that E2F-1 proteins are heterogeneously phosphorylated in insect cells, as a result of which they migrate as a doublet on SDS-polyacrylamide gels. This electrophoretic shift is shown to be dependent upon specific phosphorylation of E2F-1 on serine-375 (S375), near the pRB-binding site. Phosphorylation on S375 also occurs in human cells. E2F-1 was most efficiently phosphorylated on this residue by cyclin A/cdk2 kinase, and to a lesser extent by cyclin A/cdk2, irrespective of the presence of the pRB-related p107 protein. Phosphorylation of E2F-1 on S375 greatly enhanced its affinity of pRB in vitro. These results suggest a novel way of regulating E2F-1 activity, namely by cell-cycle-dependent phosphorylation of this transcription factor.
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