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Query: UNIPROT:P51532 (transcriptional activator)
 6,546 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

ZEBRA is an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transcriptional activator that mediates a genetic switch between the latent and lytic states of the virus by binding to the promoters of genes involved in lytic DNA replication and activating their transcription. A computer survey revealed that 9 of 23 potential or known ZEBRA-responsive EBV genes contained two or more upstream binding sites; this suggested that ZEBRA can stimulate transcription synergistically. By using a series of synthetic promoters bearing one, two, three, five, and seven upstream recognition sites, we showed that ZEBRA activates transcription synergistically when templates bearing multiple sites were compared with a template bearing a single site. This phenomenon was observed in both uninfected and EBV-infected B-lymphoid cells and in vitro in a HeLa cell nuclear extract. DNase I footprinting was used to show that the synergy was not due to cooperative DNA binding mediated by direct contact between ZEBRA dimers. The in vitro experiments revealed two manifestations of synergy. One was seen when the levels of transcription observed with the same amounts of ZEBRA added to templates bearing different numbers of sites were compared. The other was observed when the two lowest concentrations of ZEBRA that stimulated measurable transcription from any given template were compared. On the basis of both the number of sites and the calculated Kd of ZEBRA for a single site, we estimated that the critical concentration of ZEBRA needed to elicit transcriptional synergy corresponds to a site occupancy of two or three bound ZEBRA dimers. Our results have biologic implications for both the EBV lytic cycle and other processes in which the concentration of an activator changes either temporally or spatially.
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PMID:Transcriptional synergy by the Epstein-Barr virus transactivator ZEBRA. 132 Dec 70

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear protein 2 (EBNA-2) is essential for EBV-induced B-cell transformation in vitro. EBNA-2 contains a 14-amino acid domain that directly activates transcription and is required for transformation. To determine whether another transcriptional activator can substitute for this function, a chimeric virus was constructed that contained a portion of the transcriptional activation domain from the herpes simplex virus VP16 protein inserted in place of the 14-amino acid domain of EBNA-2. The chimeric virus was able to transform B cells efficiently and transactivate expression of EBV and B-cell genes. Randomization of the 14-amino acid sequence in the domain markedly reduced its transcriptional activating activity and the transforming efficiency of the recombinant EBV. Mutation of a tryptophan within the 14-amino acid domain of EBNA-2 completely abolished transcriptional activation and B-cell transformation. These experiments indicate that EBNA-2 and VP16 activate transcription by similar mechanisms and that transcriptional activation is required for EBV-induced B-cell transformation.
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PMID:A region of herpes simplex virus VP16 can substitute for a transforming domain of Epstein-Barr virus nuclear protein 2. 132 41

The Epstein-Barr virus BZLF1 gene product (ZEBRA) is a transcriptional activator whose expression in latently infected B cells is sufficient to induce the viral lytic cycle. Since there is no transcription of BZLF1 during latency, we carried out experiments to determine whether cis-acting negative elements in the BZLF1 promoter contribute to the lack of expression during this phase of the virus cycle. A series of deletion plasmids encompassing positions -551 to +14 of the BZLF1 promoter region were constructed and tested for the ability to drive chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene expression in the absence of inducing agents such as 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and anti-immunoglobulin. Expression from the intact 551-bp region was very weak in most of the cell lines tested, but deletion of 165 bp from the 5' end caused a sevenfold increase in expression of CAT. Within these 165 bp, a minimal 48-bp region was sufficient to down regulate the expression of a simian virus 40/CAT fusion plasmid. The 48-bp negative element consists of 7-bp dyad symmetry elements separated by 27 bp. The rightmost half of the dyad symmetry element partially overlaps a region which has a 14-of-15-bp homology to the human cytoskeletal gamma-actin promoter.
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PMID:Negative regulation of the BZLF1 promoter of Epstein-Barr virus. 164 87

Epstein-Barr virus nuclear protein 2 (EBNA-2) increases mRNA levels of specific viral and cellular genes through direct or indirect effects on upstream regulatory elements. The EBNA-2 domains essential for these effects have been partially defined and correlate with domains important for B-cell growth transformation. To determine whether EBNA-2 has a direct transcriptional activating domain, gene fusions between the DNA-binding domain of GAL4 and EBNA-2 were tested in CHO and B-lymphoma cells for the ability to activate transcription from target plasmids containing GAL4 recognition sites upstream of an adenovirus or murine mammary tumor virus promoter. In B-lymphoma cells, a 37-amino-acid EBNA-2 domain previously identified to be essential for transformation was nearly as strong a transcriptional activator as the activating domain of herpes simplex virus trans-inducing factor VP16. A quadradecapeptide had about 25% of the activating activity of the longer peptide. This first evidence that EBNA-2 directly activates transcription should facilitate the identification of nuclear factors with which EBNA-2 interacts in transactivation and transformation.
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PMID:An Epstein-Barr virus nuclear protein 2 domain essential for transformation is a direct transcriptional activator. 165 76

The localizations of the Epstein-Barr virus immediate-early transcriptional activator BZLF1 protein ZEBRA, of the BMRF1 early antigen diffuse component (EA-D), and of viral DNA replication were studied in the Burkitt's lymphoma cell line Akata treated with anti-human immunoglobulin antibodies. Prompt and sequential appearance of ZEBRA, EA-D, and viral DNA was observed in about 70% of the cells. At early times after activation, ZEBRA had a diffuse intranuclear distribution, but later it was concentrated in globular regions within the nucleus. EA-D appeared first in a finely stippled pattern and then in a diffuse pattern. At late times, EA-D concentrated in globular regions similar to those with ZEBRA. Double staining for ZEBRA and EA-D revealed that ZEBRA followed the morphological changes of EA-D with a 1-2 hr delay and that both finally coalesced in the same structures, where in situ hybridization localized replicating viral DNA. The redistribution of both ZEBRA and EA-D to these compartments depended upon the replication of lytic viral DNA. These findings indicate that these globular regions are sites for viral replication and that transcription of EBV late genes may be regulated in these structures.
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PMID:Formation of intranuclear replication compartments of Epstein-Barr virus with redistribution of BZLF1 and BMRF1 gene products. 165 89

Eukaryotic transcriptional activators are believed to stimulate transcription through direct and/or indirect interactions with one or more of the general transcription factors. We show here that the Zta transcriptional activator protein encoded by the Epstein-Barr virus makes direct physical contact with the basic transcription factor TFIID. Both Zta and TFIID were expressed in and purified from Escherichia coli. Zta stabilized the binding of TFIID to Zta-responsive promoters as assayed by gel electrophoresis mobility-shift and immunoprecipitation of radiolabeled promoter DNA. A deletion mutant of Zta that failed to activate transcription failed to stabilize TFIID binding. DNase I footprinting showed that Zta reduced the dissociation rate of TFIID bound to the TATA element. Protein blotting and immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that TFIID and Zta also interact in the absence of promoter DNA. The amino acid residues 25-86 of Zta were essential for the stable association with TFIID and were shown to be required for trans-activation in vivo. We propose that Zta stimulates transcription, in part, by direct physical contact with the conserved domain of TFIID and the formation of a stable Zta-TFIID-promoter complex.
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PMID:The Zta trans-activator protein stabilizes TFIID association with promoter DNA by direct protein-protein interaction. 166 Dec 58

DNA replication from the plasmid origin of replication of Epstein-Barr virus requires one viral protein, EBNA1. This protein also acts as a transcriptional activator. Mutational analyses of EBNA1 have led to the conclusion that it supports transcription and DNA replication similarly. Such analyses have not probed the DNA-binding domain of EBNA1. To test whether domains of EBNA1 specifically required for either transcription or replication lie within its DNA-binding domain, we constructed a functional transcriptional activator by placing the EBNA1 DNA-binding domain in the context of the activation domains of the estrogen receptor. This hybrid protein did not support DNA replication, which indicates that the DNA-binding domain does not contain a replication-specific domain that can function along with heterologous transcriptional activating domains.
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PMID:A chimera of EBNA1 and the estrogen receptor activates transcription but not replication. 173 8

The BZLF1 or zta immediate-early gene of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) encodes a 33-kilodalton phosphorylated nuclear protein that is a specific transcriptional activator of the EBV lytic cycle when introduced into latently infected B lymphocytes. We have shown previously that the divergent EBV DSL target promoter contains two zta-response regions, one within the minimal promoter and the other in an upstream lymphocyte-dependent enhancer region. In this study, we used footprinting and gel mobility retardation assays to reveal that bacterially synthesized Zta fusion proteins bound directly to six TGTGCAA-like motifs within DSL. Four of the Zta-binding sites lay adjacent to cellular TATA and CAAT factor-binding sites within the minimal promoter, and two mapped within the enhancer region. Single-copy oligonucleotides containing these Zta-binding sites conferred Zta responsiveness to heterologous promoters. In addition, the Zta protein, which possesses a similar basic domain to the conserved DNA-binding region of the c-Fos, c-Jun, GCN4, and CREB protein family, proved to bind directly to the consensus AP-1 site in the collagenase 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate response element. Cotransfection with zta also trans activated a target reporter gene containing inserted wild-type 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate response element oligonucleotides. Cellular AP-1 binding activity proved to be low in latently EBV-infected Raji cells but was induced (together with the Zta protein) after activation of the lytic cycle with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. We conclude that EBV may have captured and modified a cellular gene encoding a c-jun-like DNA-binding protein during its evolutionary divergence from other herpesviruses and that this protein is used to specifically redirect transcriptional activity toward expression of EBV lytic-cycle genes in infected cells.
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PMID:The zta transactivator involved in induction of lytic cycle gene expression in Epstein-Barr virus-infected lymphocytes binds to both AP-1 and ZRE sites in target promoter and enhancer regions. 215 99

The Epstein-Barr virus BZLF1 immediate-early gene encodes a transcriptional activator protein, Zta, which acts as a key regulatory switch in the transition between the latent and lytic viral life cycle. In this work, full-length Zta was expressed at high levels in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity by DNA affinity chromatography. The bacterial protein bound to specific target sequences (Zta response elements) and activated transcription in vitro from an Epstein-Barr virus early target promoter (BHLF1). Zta bound to DNA as a dimer. The formation of a heterodimer with a Zta deletion mutant was detected by gel electrophoresis mobility shift assays. Footprinting analysis on the BHLF1, BZLF1, and simian virus 40 control regions revealed multiple binding sites with no simple consensus sequence. Zta bound upstream from its own promoter at low concentrations, while at high concentrations it bound at the transcription start site, suggesting that it may activate and then autoregulate its own expression. These results demonstrate that Zta is a sequence-specific DNA-binding transcription factor.
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PMID:In vitro transcriptional activation, dimerization, and DNA-binding specificity of the Epstein-Barr virus Zta protein. 215 31

When expressed in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latently infected B cells, the EBV early protein EB1 trans-activates as many EBV early genes as does TPA. Several EB1 responsive elements (ZRE) have been identified in EBV early promoters and are located at relatively short distances from the TATA box. One of them (ZRE-M) overlaps with a consensus TPA responsive element (TRE) defined as an AP-1/c-jun/c-fos binding site and is located in an EBV promoter controlling the expression of the post-transcriptional activator EB2. Another (ZREZ) is located in the promoter controlling the expression of EB1 and does not respond to TPA. These two ZREs have no apparent sequence homology. Although EB1 activates transcription from the AP-1 enhancer sequence and from the ZREZ, the activation is severely impaired by distance, suggesting that EB1 is more likely to be a promoter factor than an enhancer factor. These properties also suggest that EB1 is not functionally related to c-jun and c-fos. However, since EB1 can activate transcription from AP-1 binding sites when properly positioned, the role of this factor in the oncogenic properties of EBV should be considered.
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PMID:The Epstein-Barr virus early protein EB1 activates transcription from different responsive elements including AP-1 binding sites. 254 44


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