Functional interaction between the HIV transactivator Tat and the transcriptional coactivator PC4 in T cells.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transactivator Tat is a potent activator of transcription from the HIV long terminal repeat and is essential for efficient viral gene expression and replication. Tat has been shown to interact with components of the basal transcription machinery and transcriptional activators. Here we identify the cellular coactivator PC4 as a Tat-interacting protein using the yeast two-hybrid system and confirmed this interaction both in vitro and in vivo by coimmunoprecipitation. We found that this interaction has a functional outcome in that PC4 overexpression enhanced activation of the HIV long terminal repeat in transient transfection studies in a Tat-dependent manner. The domains of PC4 and Tat required for the interaction were mapped. In vitro binding studies showed that the basic transactivation-responsive binding domain of Tat is required for the interaction with PC4. The minimum region of PC4 required for Tat binding was amino acids 22-91, whereas mutation of the lysine-rich domain between amino acids 22 and 43 prevented interaction with Tat. Tat-PC4 interactions may be controlled by phosphorylation, because phosphorylation of PC4 by casein kinase II inhibited interactions with Tat both in vivo and in vitro. We propose that PC4 may be involved in linking Tat to the basal transcription machinery.

An ordered array of cold shock domain repressor elements across tumor necrosis factor-responsive elements of the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor promoter.

The tumor necrosis factor-alpha-responsive region of the human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) promoter (-114 to -31) encompasses binding sites for NF-kappaB, CBF, AP-1, ETS, and NFAT families of transcription factors. We show both here and previously that mutation of any one of these binding sites greatly reduces tumor necrosis factor-alpha induction of the GM-CSF promoter. Interspersed between these elements are sequences that when mutated lead to an increase in GM-CSF promoter activity. We have previously shown that two of these repressor elements bind proteins known as cold shock domain (CSD) factors and that overexpression of CSD proteins leads to repression of GM-CSF promoter activity in fibroblasts. CSD proteins are single strand DNA- and RNA-binding proteins that contact 5'-CCTG-3' sequences in the GM-CSF repressor elements. We show here that two newly identified repressor sequences in the proximal promoter can also bind CSD proteins. We have characterized the CSD-containing protein complexes that bind to the GM-CSF promoter and identified a novel protein related to mitochondrial single strand binding protein that forms part of one of these complexes. The four CSD-binding sites on the promoter occur in pairs on opposite strands of the DNA and appear to form an ordered array of binding elements. A similar ordered array of CSD sites are present in the promoters of the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-3 genes, implying a common mechanism for negative regulation of these myeloid growth factors.

Cold shock domain proteins repress transcription from the GM-CSF promoter.

The human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene promoter binds a sequence-specific single-strand DNA binding protein termed NF-GMb. We previously demonstrated that the NF-GMb binding sites were required for repression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) induction of the proximal GM-CSF promoter sequences in fibroblasts. We now describe the isolation of two different cDNA clones that encode cold shock domain (CSD) proteins with NF-GMb binding characteristics. One is identical to the previously reported CSD protein dbpB and the other is a previously unreported variant of the dbpA CSD factor. This is the first report of CSD factors binding to a cytokine gene. Nuclear NF-GMb and expressed CSD proteins have the same binding specificity for the GM-CSF promoter and other CSD binding sites. We present evidence that CSD factors are components of the nuclear NF-GMb complex. We also demonstrate that overexpression of the CSD proteins leads to complete repression of the proximal GM-CSF promoter containing the NF-GMb/CSD binding sites. Surprisingly, we show that CSD overexpression can also directly repress a region of the promoter which apparently lacks NF-GMb/CSD binding sites. NF-GMb/CSD factors may hence be acting by two different mechanisms. We discuss the potential importance of CSD factors in maintaining strict regulation of the GM-CSF gene.

A sequence-specific single-strand DNA binding protein that contacts repressor sequences in the human GM-CSF promoter.

NF-GMb is a nuclear factor that binds to the proximal promoter of the human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene. NF-GMb has a subunit molecular weight of 22 kDa, is constitutively expressed in embryonic fibroblasts and binds to sequences within the adjacent CK-1 and CK-2 elements (CK-1/CK-2 region), located at approximately -100 in the GM-CSF gene promoter. These elements are conserved in haemopoietic growth factor (HGF) genes. NF-GMb binding requires the presence of repeated 5'CAGG3' sequences that overlap the binding sites for positive activators. Surprisingly, NF-GMb was found to bind solely to single-strand DNA, namely the non-coding strand of the GM-CSF CK-1/CK-2 region. NF-GMb may belong to a family of single-strand DNA binding (ssdb) proteins that have 5'CAGG3' sequences within their binding sites. Functional analysis of the proximal GM-CSF promoter revealed that sequences in the -114 to -79 region of the promoter containing the NF-GMb binding sites had no intrinsic activity in fibroblasts but could, however, repress tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) inducible expression directed by downstream promoter sequences (-65 to -31). Subsequent mutation analysis showed that sequences involved in repression correlated with those required for NF-GMb binding.

A novel tumor necrosis factor-responsive transcription factor which recognizes a regulatory element in hemopoietic growth factor genes.

A conserved DNA sequence element, termed cytokine 1 (CK-1), is found in the promoter regions of many hemopoietic growth factor (HGF) genes. Mutational analyses and modification interference experiments show that this sequence specifically binds a nuclear transcription factor, NF-GMa, which is a protein with a molecular mass of 43 kilodaltons. It interacts with different affinities with the CK-1-like sequence from a number of HGF genes, including granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), granulocyte (G)-CSF, interleukin 3 (IL-3), and IL-5. We show here that the level of NF-GMa binding is induced in embryonic fibroblasts by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) treatment and that the CK-1 sequence from the G-CSF gene is a TNF-alpha-responsive enhancer in these cells. The NF-GMa protein is distinct from another TNF-alpha-responsive transcription factor, NF-kappa B, by several criteria. Firstly, several NF-kappa B-binding sites, although having sequence similarity with the CK-1 sequence, cannot compete efficiently for NF-GMa binding to CK-1. Secondly, the CK-1 sequence from both G-CSF and GM-CSF does not respond to phorbol ester treatment as would an NF-kappa B-binding element. These results demonstrate that NF-GMa is a novel transcription factor inducible by TNF-alpha and binds to a common element in HGF gene promoters.

Sequence and domain structure of yeast pyruvate carboxylase.

The nucleotide sequence of the yeast pyruvate carboxylase gene has been determined from a cloned fragment of yeast genomic DNA. The deduced translation product codes for a polypeptide of 1178 amino acids, having a calculated molecular weight of 130,100. The protein shows strong sequence homology to specific regions of other biotin carboxylases, lipoamide transferases, and carbamyl phosphate synthetases. The homologous regions suggest the presence of three subsites in the enzyme: a biotin attachment site, a keto acid-binding site, and an ATP-binding site. Partial proteolysis with a variety of proteases under nondenaturing conditions indicates the presence of structural domains corresponding to these subsites.