Skip to main content
Journal of Virology logoLink to Journal of Virology
. 1991 May;65(5):2308–2313. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.5.2308-2313.1991

Polyomavirus large T mutants affected in retinoblastoma protein binding are defective in immortalization.

A Larose 1, N Dyson 1, M Sullivan 1, E Harlow 1, M Bastin 1
PMCID: PMC240580  PMID: 2016761

Abstract

To clarify the relationship between the various activities of the polyomavirus large T antigen and the contribution of this oncogene to neoplastic transformation, we constructed a series of mutants with small deletions or single-amino-acid substitutions in two separate regions of the protein. These sequences were targeted because they showed considerable similarity to conserved regions 1 and 2 of adenovirus E1A which are thought to be binding sites for the retinoblastoma gene product (pRB). The pRB-binding properties of the large T mutants were assessed with an in vitro coimmunoprecipitation assay. pRB binding was readily detected with wild-type large T, but coprecipitation was completely abolished by as little as a single amino acid substitution (Asp-141----Glu or Glu-146----Asp) in region 2 of the polyomavirus large T antigen. Mutants defective in pRB binding were unable to immortalize primary rat embryo fibroblasts, suggesting that association with pRB is an important component of immortalization mediated by polyomavirus large T. The mutations in region 1 affected pRB binding only marginally, yet some of them severely impaired immortalization, indicating that pRB binding may be essential but not sufficient for immortalization.

Full text

PDF
2308

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Asselin C., Bastin M. Sequences from polyomavirus and simian virus 40 large T genes capable of immortalizing primary rat embryo fibroblasts. J Virol. 1985 Dec;56(3):958–968. doi: 10.1128/jvi.56.3.958-968.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Asselin C., Gelinas C., Bastin M. Role of the three polyoma virus early proteins in tumorigenesis. Mol Cell Biol. 1983 Aug;3(8):1451–1459. doi: 10.1128/mcb.3.8.1451. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Asselin C., Vass-Marengo J., Bastin M. Mutation in the polyomavirus genome that activates the properties of large T associated with neoplastic transformation. J Virol. 1986 Jan;57(1):165–172. doi: 10.1128/jvi.57.1.165-172.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bautch V. L., Toda S., Hassell J. A., Hanahan D. Endothelial cell tumors develop in transgenic mice carrying polyoma virus middle T oncogene. Cell. 1987 Nov 20;51(4):529–537. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90122-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chen S., Paucha E. Identification of a region of simian virus 40 large T antigen required for cell transformation. J Virol. 1990 Jul;64(7):3350–3357. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.7.3350-3357.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Clayton C. E., Murphy D., Lovett M., Rigby P. W. A fragment of the SV40 large T-antigen gene transforms. Nature. 1982 Sep 2;299(5878):59–61. doi: 10.1038/299059a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Colby W. W., Shenk T. Fragments of the simian virus 40 transforming gene facilitate transformation of rat embryo cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Sep;79(17):5189–5193. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.17.5189. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Cowie A., de Villiers J., Kamen R. Immortalization of rat embryo fibroblasts by mutant polyomavirus large T antigens deficient in DNA binding. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Dec;6(12):4344–4352. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.12.4344. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. DeCaprio J. A., Ludlow J. W., Figge J., Shew J. Y., Huang C. M., Lee W. H., Marsilio E., Paucha E., Livingston D. M. SV40 large tumor antigen forms a specific complex with the product of the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene. Cell. 1988 Jul 15;54(2):275–283. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90559-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Dyson N., Bernards R., Friend S. H., Gooding L. R., Hassell J. A., Major E. O., Pipas J. M., Vandyke T., Harlow E. Large T antigens of many polyomaviruses are able to form complexes with the retinoblastoma protein. J Virol. 1990 Mar;64(3):1353–1356. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.3.1353-1356.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Dyson N., Buchkovich K., Whyte P., Harlow E. The cellular 107K protein that binds to adenovirus E1A also associates with the large T antigens of SV40 and JC virus. Cell. 1989 Jul 28;58(2):249–255. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90839-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Dyson N., Howley P. M., Münger K., Harlow E. The human papilloma virus-16 E7 oncoprotein is able to bind to the retinoblastoma gene product. Science. 1989 Feb 17;243(4893):934–937. doi: 10.1126/science.2537532. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Edmonds C., Vousden K. H. A point mutational analysis of human papillomavirus type 16 E7 protein. J Virol. 1989 Jun;63(6):2650–2656. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.6.2650-2656.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Egan C., Jelsma T. N., Howe J. A., Bayley S. T., Ferguson B., Branton P. E. Mapping of cellular protein-binding sites on the products of early-region 1A of human adenovirus type 5. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Sep;8(9):3955–3959. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.9.3955. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Ewen M. E., Ludlow J. W., Marsilio E., DeCaprio J. A., Millikan R. C., Cheng S. H., Paucha E., Livingston D. M. An N-terminal transformation-governing sequence of SV40 large T antigen contributes to the binding of both p110Rb and a second cellular protein, p120. Cell. 1989 Jul 28;58(2):257–267. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90840-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Figge J., Webster T., Smith T. F., Paucha E. Prediction of similar transforming regions in simian virus 40 large T, adenovirus E1A, and myc oncoproteins. J Virol. 1988 May;62(5):1814–1818. doi: 10.1128/jvi.62.5.1814-1818.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Finlay C. A., Hinds P. W., Levine A. J. The p53 proto-oncogene can act as a suppressor of transformation. Cell. 1989 Jun 30;57(7):1083–1093. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90045-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Friend S. H., Bernards R., Rogelj S., Weinberg R. A., Rapaport J. M., Albert D. M., Dryja T. P. A human DNA segment with properties of the gene that predisposes to retinoblastoma and osteosarcoma. Nature. 1986 Oct 16;323(6089):643–646. doi: 10.1038/323643a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Fung Y. K., Murphree A. L., T'Ang A., Qian J., Hinrichs S. H., Benedict W. F. Structural evidence for the authenticity of the human retinoblastoma gene. Science. 1987 Jun 26;236(4809):1657–1661. doi: 10.1126/science.2885916. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Harbour J. W., Lai S. L., Whang-Peng J., Gazdar A. F., Minna J. D., Kaye F. J. Abnormalities in structure and expression of the human retinoblastoma gene in SCLC. Science. 1988 Jul 15;241(4863):353–357. doi: 10.1126/science.2838909. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Harlow E., Whyte P., Franza B. R., Jr, Schley C. Association of adenovirus early-region 1A proteins with cellular polypeptides. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 May;6(5):1579–1589. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.5.1579. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Hicks G. G., Mowat M. Integration of Friend murine leukemia virus into both alleles of the p53 oncogene in an erythroleukemic cell line. J Virol. 1988 Dec;62(12):4752–4755. doi: 10.1128/jvi.62.12.4752-4755.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Jat P. S., Sharp P. A. Cell lines established by a temperature-sensitive simian virus 40 large-T-antigen gene are growth restricted at the nonpermissive temperature. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Apr;9(4):1672–1681. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.4.1672. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Jat P. S., Sharp P. A. Large T antigens of simian virus 40 and polyomavirus efficiently establish primary fibroblasts. J Virol. 1986 Sep;59(3):746–750. doi: 10.1128/jvi.59.3.746-750.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Kalderon D., Smith A. E. In vitro mutagenesis of a putative DNA binding domain of SV40 large-T. Virology. 1984 Nov;139(1):109–137. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(84)90334-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Kanda T., Watanabe S., Yoshiike K. Immortalization of primary rat cells by human papillomavirus type 16 subgenomic DNA fragments controlled by the SV40 promoter. Virology. 1988 Jul;165(1):321–325. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(88)90694-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Kawai S., Nishizawa M. New procedure for DNA transfection with polycation and dimethyl sulfoxide. Mol Cell Biol. 1984 Jun;4(6):1172–1174. doi: 10.1128/mcb.4.6.1172. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Kuenzel E. A., Mulligan J. A., Sommercorn J., Krebs E. G. Substrate specificity determinants for casein kinase II as deduced from studies with synthetic peptides. J Biol Chem. 1987 Jul 5;262(19):9136–9140. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Land H., Parada L. F., Weinberg R. A. Tumorigenic conversion of primary embryo fibroblasts requires at least two cooperating oncogenes. Nature. 1983 Aug 18;304(5927):596–602. doi: 10.1038/304596a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Larose A., St-Onge L., Bastin M. Mutations in polyomavirus large T affecting immortalization of primary rat embryo fibroblasts. Virology. 1990 May;176(1):98–105. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(90)90234-i. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Lee W. H., Bookstein R., Hong F., Young L. J., Shew J. Y., Lee E. Y. Human retinoblastoma susceptibility gene: cloning, identification, and sequence. Science. 1987 Mar 13;235(4794):1394–1399. doi: 10.1126/science.3823889. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Lillie J. W., Green M., Green M. R. An adenovirus E1a protein region required for transformation and transcriptional repression. Cell. 1986 Sep 26;46(7):1043–1051. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90704-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Messing J. New M13 vectors for cloning. Methods Enzymol. 1983;101:20–78. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(83)01005-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Moran E. A region of SV40 large T antigen can substitute for a transforming domain of the adenovirus E1A products. Nature. 1988 Jul 14;334(6178):168–170. doi: 10.1038/334168a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Munroe D. G., Rovinski B., Bernstein A., Benchimol S. Loss of a highly conserved domain on p53 as a result of gene deletion during Friend virus-induced erythroleukemia. Oncogene. 1988 Jun;2(6):621–624. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Münger K., Werness B. A., Dyson N., Phelps W. C., Harlow E., Howley P. M. Complex formation of human papillomavirus E7 proteins with the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene product. EMBO J. 1989 Dec 20;8(13):4099–4105. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb08594.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Ralston R., Bishop J. M. The protein products of the myc and myb oncogenes and adenovirus E1a are structurally related. Nature. 1983 Dec 22;306(5945):803–806. doi: 10.1038/306803a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Rassoulzadegan M., Cowie A., Carr A., Glaichenhaus N., Kamen R., Cuzin F. The roles of individual polyoma virus early proteins in oncogenic transformation. Nature. 1982 Dec 23;300(5894):713–718. doi: 10.1038/300713a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Rassoulzadegan M., Naghashfar Z., Cowie A., Carr A., Grisoni M., Kamen R., Cuzin F. Expression of the large T protein of polyoma virus promotes the establishment in culture of "normal" rodent fibroblast cell lines. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jul;80(14):4354–4358. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.14.4354. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Sarnow P., Ho Y. S., Williams J., Levine A. J. Adenovirus E1b-58kd tumor antigen and SV40 large tumor antigen are physically associated with the same 54 kd cellular protein in transformed cells. Cell. 1982 Feb;28(2):387–394. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90356-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Schmieg F. I., Simmons D. T. Characterization of the in vitro interaction between SV40 T antigen and p53: mapping the p53 binding site. Virology. 1988 May;164(1):132–140. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(88)90628-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Smolar N., Griffin B. E. DNA sequences of polyoma virus early deletion mutants. J Virol. 1981 Jun;38(3):958–967. doi: 10.1128/jvi.38.3.958-967.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Srinivasan A., Peden K. W., Pipas J. M. The large tumor antigen of simian virus 40 encodes at least two distinct transforming functions. J Virol. 1989 Dec;63(12):5459–5463. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.12.5459-5463.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Treisman R., Novak U., Favaloro J., Kamen R. Transformation of rat cells by an altered polyoma virus genome expressing only the middle-T protein. Nature. 1981 Aug 13;292(5824):595–600. doi: 10.1038/292595a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Werness B. A., Levine A. J., Howley P. M. Association of human papillomavirus types 16 and 18 E6 proteins with p53. Science. 1990 Apr 6;248(4951):76–79. doi: 10.1126/science.2157286. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Whyte P., Buchkovich K. J., Horowitz J. M., Friend S. H., Raybuck M., Weinberg R. A., Harlow E. Association between an oncogene and an anti-oncogene: the adenovirus E1A proteins bind to the retinoblastoma gene product. Nature. 1988 Jul 14;334(6178):124–129. doi: 10.1038/334124a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Whyte P., Ruley H. E., Harlow E. Two regions of the adenovirus early region 1A proteins are required for transformation. J Virol. 1988 Jan;62(1):257–265. doi: 10.1128/jvi.62.1.257-265.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Whyte P., Williamson N. M., Harlow E. Cellular targets for transformation by the adenovirus E1A proteins. Cell. 1989 Jan 13;56(1):67–75. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90984-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Yee S. P., Branton P. E. Detection of cellular proteins associated with human adenovirus type 5 early region 1A polypeptides. Virology. 1985 Nov;147(1):142–153. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(85)90234-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Zhu Z. Y., Veldman G. M., Cowie A., Carr A., Schaffhausen B., Kamen R. Construction and functional characterization of polyomavirus genomes that separately encode the three early proteins. J Virol. 1984 Jul;51(1):170–180. doi: 10.1128/jvi.51.1.170-180.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Zoller M. J., Smith M. Oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis of DNA fragments cloned into M13 vectors. Methods Enzymol. 1983;100:468–500. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(83)00074-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Virology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES