C/EBPα: A tumour suppressor in multiple tissues?

The CCATT/enhancer binding protein alpha, C/EBPα, is a key transcription factor involved in late differentiation events of several cell types. Besides acting as a classical transcription factor, C/EBPα is also a well-characterized inhibitor of mitotic growth in most cell lines tested. In line with its anti-mitotic properties, C/EBPα has been shown to interact with, and alter the activities of, several cell cycle related proteins and a number of models as to the mechanistics of C/EBPα-mediated growth repression have been proposed. More recently, several reports have indicated that C/EBPα acts as a tumour suppressor in the hematopoietic system and that mutation within C/EBPα is sufficient to induce tumourigenesis. Here, we will review these data and probe the possibility that C/EBPα also act as a tumour suppressor in other C/EBPα-expressing tissues.