CtBP1 is a cellular phosphoprotein that associates with various proteins and functions as a corepressor of transcription. CtBP1 and the related protein CtBP2 are characterized as C-terminal binding protein of adenovirus E1A, and they preferentially associate with the E1A via a 5-amino acid motif, PLDLS, to repress E1A induced oncogenesis and cellular transformation. CtBP1 is expressed from embryo to adult, but CtBP2 is mainly expressed during embryogenesis. During skeletal and T-cell development, CtBP1 and CtBP2 associate with the PLDLSL domain of δEF1, a cellular zinc finger-homeodomain protein, and thereby enhances δEF1 induced transcriptional silencing. In addition, CtBP complexes with CtIP, a protein that recognizes distinctly different protein motifs from CtBP. CtIP binds to the BRCT repeats within the breast cancer gene BRCA1 and enables CtBP to influence BRCA1 activity. CtIP/CtBP binding to BRCA1 inhibits the transactivation of the p21 promoter, and it is critical for regulating p21 transcription in response to DNA damage.
