Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Virology logoLink to Journal of Virology
. 1990 Apr;64(4):1498–1506. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.4.1498-1506.1990

Transactivation of a human cytomegalovirus early promoter by gene products from the immediate-early gene IE2 and augmentation by IE1: mutational analysis of the viral proteins.

C L Malone 1, D H Vesole 1, M F Stinski 1
PMCID: PMC249283  PMID: 2157038

Abstract

Expression from a human cytomegalovirus early promoter (E1.7) has been shown to be activated in trans by the IE2 gene products (C.-P. Chang, C. L. Malone, and M. F. Stinski, J. Virol. 63:281-290, 1989). Using wild-type and mutant viral proteins, we have defined the protein regions required for transactivation of the E1.7 promoter in IE2 and for augmentation of transactivation in the IE1 protein. Two regions of the IE2 proteins were found to be essential for transactivation. One near the amino terminus is within 52 amino acids encoded by exon 3. The second comprises the carboxyl-terminal 85 amino acids encoded by exon 5. The IE2 protein encoded by an mRNA which lacks the intron within exon 5 and the IE2 protein encoded by exon 5 had no activity for transactivation of the E1.7 promoter. Although the IE1 gene product alone had no effect on this early viral promoter, maximal early promoter activity was detected when both IE1 and IE2 gene products were present. The IE1 protein positively regulated its enhancer-containing promoter-regulatory region. The IE1 protein alone increased the steady-state level of IE2 mRNA; therefore, IE1 and IE2 are synergistic for expression from the E1.7 promoter. Like the IE2 proteins, the IE1 protein requires for activity 52 amino acids encoded by exon 3. IE1 also requires amino acids encoded by exon 4. Since the IE1 and IE2 proteins have 85 amino acids in common at the amino-terminal end encoded by exons 2 and 3, the difference between these specific transactivators resides in their carboxyl-terminal amino acids encoded by exons 4 and 5, respectively.

Full text

PDF
1498

Images in this article

1502Image
on p.1502
1503Image
on p.1503
1504Image
on p.1504

Selected References

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

  1. Akrigg A., Wilkinson G. W., Oram J. D. The structure of the major immediate early gene of human cytomegalovirus strain AD169. Virus Res. 1985 Mar;2(2):107–121. doi: 10.1016/0168-1702(85)90242-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Blanton R. A., Tevethia M. J. Immunoprecipitation of virus-specific immediate-early and early polypeptides from cells lytically infected with human cytomegalovirus strain AD 169. Virology. 1981 Jul 15;112(1):262–273. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(81)90631-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Boshart M., Weber F., Jahn G., Dorsch-Häsler K., Fleckenstein B., Schaffner W. A very strong enhancer is located upstream of an immediate early gene of human cytomegalovirus. Cell. 1985 Jun;41(2):521–530. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(85)80025-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chang C. P., Malone C. L., Stinski M. F. A human cytomegalovirus early gene has three inducible promoters that are regulated differentially at various times after infection. J Virol. 1989 Jan;63(1):281–290. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.1.281-290.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cherrington J. M., Mocarski E. S. Human cytomegalovirus ie1 transactivates the alpha promoter-enhancer via an 18-base-pair repeat element. J Virol. 1989 Mar;63(3):1435–1440. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.3.1435-1440.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Davis M. G., Kenney S. C., Kamine J., Pagano J. S., Huang E. S. Immediate-early gene region of human cytomegalovirus trans-activates the promoter of human immunodeficiency virus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Dec;84(23):8642–8646. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.23.8642. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. DeMarchi J. M., Blankenship M. L., Brown G. D., Kaplan A. S. Size and complexity of human cytomegalovirus DNA. Virology. 1978 Sep;89(2):643–646. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(78)90209-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. DeMarchi J. M. Post-transcriptional control of human cytomegalovirus gene expression. Virology. 1983 Jan 30;124(2):390–402. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(83)90355-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Depto A. S., Stenberg R. M. Regulated expression of the human cytomegalovirus pp65 gene: octamer sequence in the promoter is required for activation by viral gene products. J Virol. 1989 Mar;63(3):1232–1238. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.3.1232-1238.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Geballe A. P., Leach F. S., Mocarski E. S. Regulation of cytomegalovirus late gene expression: gamma genes are controlled by posttranscriptional events. J Virol. 1986 Mar;57(3):864–874. doi: 10.1128/jvi.57.3.864-874.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Geelen J. L., Walig C., Wertheim P., van der Noordaa J. Human cytomegalovirus DNA. I. Molecular weight and infectivity. J Virol. 1978 Jun;26(3):813–816. doi: 10.1128/jvi.26.3.813-816.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Ghazal P., Lubon H., Fleckenstein B., Hennighausen L. Binding of transcription factors and creation of a large nucleoprotein complex on the human cytomegalovirus enhancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Jun;84(11):3658–3662. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.11.3658. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Ghazal P., Lubon H., Hennighausen L. Multiple sequence-specific transcription factors modulate cytomegalovirus enhancer activity in vitro. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Apr;8(4):1809–1811. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.4.1809. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ghazal P., Lubon H., Hennighausen L. Specific interactions between transcription factors and the promoter-regulatory region of the human cytomegalovirus major immediate-early gene. J Virol. 1988 Mar;62(3):1076–1079. doi: 10.1128/jvi.62.3.1076-1079.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Gibson W. Immediate-early proteins of human cytomegalovirus strains AD 169, Davis, and Towne differ in electrophoretic mobility. Virology. 1981 Jul 15;112(1):350–354. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(81)90641-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Goins W. F., Stinski M. F. Expression of a human cytomegalovirus late gene is posttranscriptionally regulated by a 3'-end-processing event occurring exclusively late after infection. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Dec;6(12):4202–4213. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.12.4202. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Gorman C. M., Moffat L. F., Howard B. H. Recombinant genomes which express chloramphenicol acetyltransferase in mammalian cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1982 Sep;2(9):1044–1051. doi: 10.1128/mcb.2.9.1044. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Gretch D. R., Suter M., Stinski M. F. The use of biotinylated monoclonal antibodies and streptavidin affinity chromatography to isolate herpesvirus hydrophobic proteins or glycoproteins. Anal Biochem. 1987 May 15;163(1):270–277. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(87)90123-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Hermiston T. W., Malone C. L., Witte P. R., Stinski M. F. Identification and characterization of the human cytomegalovirus immediate-early region 2 gene that stimulates gene expression from an inducible promoter. J Virol. 1987 Oct;61(10):3214–3221. doi: 10.1128/jvi.61.10.3214-3221.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Hunninghake G. W., Monick M. M., Liu B., Stinski M. F. The promoter-regulatory region of the major immediate-early gene of human cytomegalovirus responds to T-lymphocyte stimulation and contains functional cyclic AMP-response elements. J Virol. 1989 Jul;63(7):3026–3033. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.7.3026-3033.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Keil G. M., Ebeling-Keil A., Koszinowski U. H. Sequence and structural organization of murine cytomegalovirus immediate-early gene 1. J Virol. 1987 Jun;61(6):1901–1908. doi: 10.1128/jvi.61.6.1901-1908.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Krieg P. A., Melton D. A. In vitro RNA synthesis with SP6 RNA polymerase. Methods Enzymol. 1987;155:397–415. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(87)55027-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Lakeman A. D., Osborn J. E. Size of infectious DNA from human and murine cytomegaloviruses. J Virol. 1979 Apr;30(1):414–416. doi: 10.1128/jvi.30.1.414-416.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Leach F. S., Mocarski E. S. Regulation of cytomegalovirus late-gene expression: differential use of three start sites in the transcriptional activation of ICP36 gene expression. J Virol. 1989 Apr;63(4):1783–1791. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.4.1783-1791.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. McDonough S. H., Spector D. H. Transcription in human fibroblasts permissively infected by human cytomegalovirus strain AD169. Virology. 1983 Feb;125(1):31–46. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(83)90061-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Michelson S., Horodniceanu F., Kress M., Tardy-Panit M. Human cytomegalovirus-induced immediate early antigens: analysis in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after immunoprecipitation. J Virol. 1979 Oct;32(1):259–267. doi: 10.1128/jvi.32.1.259-267.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Otto S. M., Sullivan-Tailyour G., Malone C. L., Stinski M. F. Subcellular localization of the major immediate early protein (IE1) of human cytomegalovirus at early times after infection. Virology. 1988 Feb;162(2):478–482. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(88)90490-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Pizzorno M. C., O'Hare P., Sha L., LaFemina R. L., Hayward G. S. trans-activation and autoregulation of gene expression by the immediate-early region 2 gene products of human cytomegalovirus. J Virol. 1988 Apr;62(4):1167–1179. doi: 10.1128/jvi.62.4.1167-1179.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Ptashne M. How eukaryotic transcriptional activators work. Nature. 1988 Oct 20;335(6192):683–689. doi: 10.1038/335683a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Staprans S. I., Rabert D. K., Spector D. H. Identification of sequence requirements and trans-acting functions necessary for regulated expression of a human cytomegalovirus early gene. J Virol. 1988 Sep;62(9):3463–3473. doi: 10.1128/jvi.62.9.3463-3473.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Stenberg R. M., Depto A. S., Fortney J., Nelson J. A. Regulated expression of early and late RNAs and proteins from the human cytomegalovirus immediate-early gene region. J Virol. 1989 Jun;63(6):2699–2708. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.6.2699-2708.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Stenberg R. M., Stinski M. F. Autoregulation of the human cytomegalovirus major immediate-early gene. J Virol. 1985 Dec;56(3):676–682. doi: 10.1128/jvi.56.3.676-682.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Stenberg R. M., Thomsen D. R., Stinski M. F. Structural analysis of the major immediate early gene of human cytomegalovirus. J Virol. 1984 Jan;49(1):190–199. doi: 10.1128/jvi.49.1.190-199.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Stenberg R. M., Witte P. R., Stinski M. F. Multiple spliced and unspliced transcripts from human cytomegalovirus immediate-early region 2 and evidence for a common initiation site within immediate-early region 1. J Virol. 1985 Dec;56(3):665–675. doi: 10.1128/jvi.56.3.665-675.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Stinski M. F., Mocarski E. S., Thomsen D. R. DNA of human cytomegalovirus: size heterogeneity and defectiveness resulting from serial undiluted passage. J Virol. 1979 Jul;31(1):231–239. doi: 10.1128/jvi.31.1.231-239.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Stinski M. F., Roehr T. J. Activation of the major immediate early gene of human cytomegalovirus by cis-acting elements in the promoter-regulatory sequence and by virus-specific trans-acting components. J Virol. 1985 Aug;55(2):431–441. doi: 10.1128/jvi.55.2.431-441.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Stinski M. F. Sequence of protein synthesis in cells infected by human cytomegalovirus: early and late virus-induced polypeptides. J Virol. 1978 Jun;26(3):686–701. doi: 10.1128/jvi.26.3.686-701.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Stinski M. F., Thomsen D. R., Stenberg R. M., Goldstein L. C. Organization and expression of the immediate early genes of human cytomegalovirus. J Virol. 1983 Apr;46(1):1–14. doi: 10.1128/jvi.46.1.1-14.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Tevethia M. J., Spector D. J., Leisure K. M., Stinski M. F. Participation of two human cytomegalovirus immediate early gene regions in transcriptional activation of adenovirus promoters. Virology. 1987 Dec;161(2):276–285. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(87)90119-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Thomsen D. R., Stenberg R. M., Goins W. F., Stinski M. F. Promoter-regulatory region of the major immediate early gene of human cytomegalovirus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Feb;81(3):659–663. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.3.659. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Thomsen D. R., Stinski M. F. Cloning of the human cytomegalovirus genome as endonuclease XbaI fragments. Gene. 1981 Dec;16(1-3):207–216. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(81)90077-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Wathen M. W., Stinski M. F. Temporal patterns of human cytomegalovirus transcription: mapping the viral RNAs synthesized at immediate early, early, and late times after infection. J Virol. 1982 Feb;41(2):462–477. doi: 10.1128/jvi.41.2.462-477.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Weintraub H., Cheng P. F., Conrad K. Expression of transfected DNA depends on DNA topology. Cell. 1986 Jul 4;46(1):115–122. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90865-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES