pRb interacts with the histone deacetylases HDAC1 and HDAC3. pRb binds to HDAC1 in its pocket domain in a region that is independent to its E2F-binding site. pRb recruitment of histone deacetylases leads to the repression of genes at E2F-regulated promoters due to nucleosome formation. Some genes activated during the G1/S transition such as cyclin E are repressed by HDAC during early to mid-G1 phase. This suggests that HDAC-assisted repression of cell cycle progression genes is crucial for the ability of pRb to arrest cells in G1. To further add to this point, the HDAC-pRb complex is shown to be disrupted by cyclin D/Cdk4 which levels increase and peak during the late G1 phase.
