FIG. 2.

Identification of HPV-31 early polyadenylation cis elements which regulate downstream gene expression. (A) Schematic of pPolyA Luc-Control reporter construct containing a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter driving expression of both the Renilla (Rluc) and firefly (Fluc) luciferase genes. The genes are separated by an IRES element from encephalomyocarditis virus and contain a downstream polyadenylation signal from bovine growth hormone (bGH pA). (B) The reporter pPolyA Luc-1500 contains sequences from upstream of the E5 ORF to 1,500 nt of the late coding region. The HPV-31 sequence includes the early polyadenylation signal AAUAAA (solid vertical box) and degenerative signal UAUAUA (shaded vertical box). pPolyA Luc-P1.15 and -P2.15 contain substitutions in the AAUAAA and UAUAUA elements, respectively. pPolyA Luc-C1.15, -C2.15, and -C3.15 contain substitutions which reduce the G/U content within previously defined CstF binding sites. Plasmids were transfected into LKP-31 cells as described in Materials and Methods. Luciferase activities were determined and are illustrated graphically as the ratio of relative light units (RLU) from the downstream firefly luciferase to the upstream Renilla luciferase as a percentage of that with pPolyA Luc-Control. The ratios are presented as the standard deviations from three experiments.