text: When a cell enters G1, Cyclin D- Cdk4/6 phosphorylates pRb at a single phosphorylation site. No progressive phosphorylation occurs because when HFF cells were exposed to sustained cyclin D- Cdk4/6 activity (and even deregulated activity) in early G1, only mono-phosphorylated pRb was detected. Furthermore, triple knockout, p16 addition, and Cdk 4/6 inhibitor addition experiments confirmed that Cyclin D- Cdk 4/6 is the sole phosphorylator of pRb.
  Throughout early G1, mono-phosphorylated pRb exists as 14 different isoforms (the 15th phosphorylation site is not conserved in primates in which the experiments were performed). Together, these isoforms represent the “hypo-phosphorylated” active pRb state that was thought to exist. Each isoform has distinct preferences to associate with different exogenous expressed E2Fs.
  A recent report showed that mono-phosphorylation controls pRb's association with other proteins and generates functional distinct forms of pRb. All different mono-phosphorylated pRb isoforms inhibit E2F transcriptional program and are able to arrest cells in G1-phase. Importantly, different mono-phosphorylated forms of pRb have distinct transcriptional outputs that are extended beyond E2F regulation.