[Role of the RB gene in carcinogenesis]

RB protein is an intranuclear phosphoprotein encoded by the RB gene which was isolated as a human tumor suppressor gene from the 13q14 locus. One of the important functions of the RB protein is to regulate cell cycle by interacting with a variety of molecules. Biological analysis of the RB protein at the cellular level has been performed by either transfecting a wild-type RB gene into RB-mutated cancer cells or knocking out the endogenous RB gene in transgenic mouse experiments. Role of the RB gene in multistep carcinogenesis and its additional aspects, including the regulation of cell surface adhesion or invasion-related phenotypes, have also been elucidated.