The amino-terminal C/H1 domain of CREB binding protein mediates zta transcriptional activation of latent Epstein-Barr virus. (1/903)

Latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is maintained as a nucleosome-covered episome that can be transcriptionally activated by overexpression of the viral immediate-early protein, Zta. We show here that reactivation of latent EBV by Zta can be significantly enhanced by coexpression of the cellular coactivators CREB binding protein (CBP) and p300. A stable complex containing both Zta and CBP could be isolated from lytically stimulated, but not latently infected RAJI nuclear extracts. Zta-mediated viral reactivation and transcriptional activation were both significantly inhibited by coexpression of the E1A 12S protein but not by an N-terminal deletion mutation of E1A (E1ADelta2-36), which fails to bind CBP. Zta bound directly to two related cysteine- and histidine-rich domains of CBP, referred to as C/H1 and C/H3. These domains both interacted specifically with the transcriptional activation domain of Zta in an electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Interestingly, we found that the C/H3 domain was a potent dominant negative inhibitor of Zta transcriptional activation function. In contrast, an amino-terminal fragment containing the C/H1 domain was sufficient for coactivation of Zta transcription and viral reactivation function. Thus, CBP can stimulate the transcription of latent EBV in a histone acetyltransferase-independent manner mediated by the CBP amino-terminal C/H1-containing domain. We propose that CBP may regulate aspects of EBV latency and reactivation by integrating cellular signals mediated by competitive interactions between C/H1, C/H3, and the Zta activation domain.  (+info)

The histone acetylase PCAF is a phorbol-ester-inducible coactivator of the IRF family that confers enhanced interferon responsiveness. (2/903)

Transcription factors of the interferon regulatory factor (IRF) family bind to the type I interferon (IFN)-responsive element (ISRE) and activate transcription from IFN-inducible genes. To identify cofactors that associate with IRF proteins, DNA affinity binding assays were performed with nuclear extracts prepared from tissue culture cells. The results demonstrated that the endogenous IRFs bound to the ISRE are complexed with the histone acetylases, PCAF, GCN5, and p300/CREB binding protein and that histone acetylase activities are accumulated on the IRF-ISRE complexes. By testing recombinant proteins, we show that PCAF directly binds to some but not all members of the IRF family through distinct domains of the two proteins. This interaction was functionally significant, since transfection of PCAF strongly enhanced IRF-1- and IRF-2-dependent promoter activities. Further studies showed that expression of PCAF and other histone acetylases was markedly induced in U937 cells upon phorbol ester treatment, which led to increased recruitment of PCAF to the IRF-ISRE complexes. Coinciding with the induction of histone acetylases, phorbol ester markedly enhanced IFN-alpha-stimulated gene expression in U937 cells. Supporting the role for PCAF in conferring IFN responsiveness, transfection of PCAF into U937 cells led to a large increase in IFN-alpha-inducible promoter activity. These results demonstrate that PCAF is a phorbol ester-inducible coactivator of the IRF proteins which contributes to the establishment of type I IFN responsiveness.  (+info)

Virus infection leads to localized hyperacetylation of histones H3 and H4 at the IFN-beta promoter. (3/903)

Transcriptional activation of the human interferon-beta (IFN-beta) gene by virus infection requires the assembly of a higher order nucleoprotein complex, the enhanceosome, which consists of the transcriptional activators NF-kappa B (p50/p65), ATF-2/c-jun, IRF-3 and IRF-7, architectural protein HMGI(Y), and the coactivators p300 and CBP. In this report, we show that virus infection of cells results in a dramatic hyperacetylation of histones H3 and H4 that is localized to the IFN-beta promoter. Furthermore, expressing a truncated version of IRF-3, which lacks a p300/CBP interaction domain, suppresses both histone hyperacetylation and activation of the IFN-beta gene. Thus, coactivator-mediated localized hyperacetylation of histones may play a crucial role in inducible gene expression.  (+info)

Transcriptional repression of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene, mediated by CCAAT displacement protein/cut homolog, is associated with histone deacetylation. (4/903)

Human cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene (CFTR) transcription is tightly regulated by nucleotide sequences upstream of the initiator sequences. Our studies of human CFTR transcription focus on identifying transcription factors bound to an inverted CCAAT consensus or "Y-box element." The human homeodomain CCAAT displacement protein/cut homolog (CDP/cut) can bind to the Y-box element through a cut repeat and homeobox. Analysis of stably transfected cell lines with wild-type and mutant human CFTR-directed reporter genes demonstrates that human histone acetyltransferase GCN5 and transcription factor ATF-1 can potentiate CFTR transcription through the Y-box element. We have found 1) that human CDP/cut acts as a repressor of CFTR transcription through the Y-box element by competing for the sites of transactivators hGCN5 and ATF-1; 2) that the ability of CDP/cut to repress activities of hGCN5 and ATF-1 activity is contingent on the amount of CDP/cut expression; 3) that histone acetylation may have a role in the regulation of gene transcription by altering the accessibility of the CFTR Y-box for sequence-specific transcription factors; 4) that trichostatin A, an inhibitor of histone deacetylase activity, activates transcription of CFTR through the Y-box element; 5) that the inhibition of histone deacetylase activity leads to an alteration of local chromatin structure requiring an intact Y-box sequence in CFTR; 6) that immunocomplexes of CDP/cut possess an associated histone deacetylase activity; 7) that the carboxyl region of CDP/cut, responsible for the transcriptional repressor function, interacts with the histone deacetylase, HDAC1. We propose that CFTR transcription may be regulated through interactions with factors directing the modification of chromatin and requires the conservation of the inverted CCAAT (Y-box) element of the CFTR promoter.  (+info)

Cooperation between phosphorylation and acetylation processes in transcriptional control. (5/903)

We previously reported that the activation of the M promoter of the human choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) gene by butyrate and trapoxin in transfected CHP126 cells is blocked by PD98059, a specific mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitor (E. Espinos and M. J. Weber, Mol. Brain Res. 56:118-124, 1998). We now report that the transcriptional effects of histone deacetylase inhibitors are mediated by an H7-sensitive serine/threonine protein kinase. Activation of the ChAT promoter by butyrate and trapoxin was blocked by 50 microM H7 in both transient- and stable-transfection assays. Overexpression of p300, a coactivator protein endowed with histone acetyltransferase activity, stimulated the ChAT promoter and had a synergistic effect on butyrate treatment. These effects were blocked by H7 and by overexpressed adenovirus E1A 12S protein. Moreover, both H7 and PD98059 suppressed the activation of the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) and simian virus 40 promoters by butyrate in transfection experiments. Similarly, the induction of the cellular histone H1(0) gene by butyrate in CHP126 cells was blocked by H7 and by PD98059. Previous data (L. Cuisset, L. Tichonicky, P. Jaffray, and M. Delpech, J. Biol. Chem. 272:24148-24153, 1997) showed that the induction of the H1(0) gene by butyrate is blocked by okadaic acid, an inhibitor of protein phosphatases. We now show that the activation of the ChAT and RSV promoters by butyrate in transfected CHP126 cells is also blocked by 200 nM okadaic acid. Western blotting and in vivo metabolic labeling experiments showed that butyrate has a biphasic effect on histone H3 phosphorylation, i.e., depression for up to 16 h followed by stimulation. The data thus strongly suggest that the transcriptional effects of histone deacetylase inhibitors are mediated through the activation of MEK1 and of an H7-sensitive protein kinase in addition to protein phosphatases.  (+info)

P/CAF associates with cyclin D1 and potentiates its activation of the estrogen receptor. (6/903)

Cyclin D1 is overexpressed in a significant percentage of human breast cancers, particularly in those that also express the estrogen receptor (ER). We and others have demonstrated previously that experimentally overexpressed cyclin D1 can associate with the ER and stimulate its transcriptional functions in the absence of estrogen. This effect is separable from the established function of cyclin D1 as a regulator of cyclin-dependent kinases. Here, we demonstrate that cyclin D1 can also interact with the histone acetyltransferase, p300/CREB-binding protein-associated protein (P/CAF), thereby facilitating an association between P/CAF and the ER. Ectopic expression of P/CAF potentiates cyclin D1-stimulated ER activity in a dose-dependent manner. This effect is largely dependent on the acetyltransferase activity of P/CAF. These results suggest that cyclin D1 may trigger the activation of the ER through the recruitment of P/CAF, by providing histone acetyltransferase activity and, potentially, links to additional P/CAF-associated transcriptional coactivators.  (+info)

Tip60 is a nuclear hormone receptor coactivator. (7/903)

The androgen receptor (AR) is a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. Recent work in this field has been focused upon defining the mechanisms of transcriptional control exacted by members of this superfamily. Using a COOH-terminal region of the human AR in a yeast two-hybrid screen, we have identified Tip60 as an AR-interacting protein. In this report, we show that Tip60, which was originally identified as a coactivator for the human immunodeficiency virus TAT protein, can enhance AR-mediated transactivation in a ligand-dependent manner in LNCaP and COS-1 cell lines. In addition, our experiments show that Tip60 can also enhance transactivation through the estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor in a ligand-dependent manner; thus identifying Tip60 as a nuclear hormone receptor coactivator. Our studies also demonstrate that Tip60 co-immunoprecipitates with the full-length AR in vitro and that, in our system, Tip60 enhances transactivation to levels observed with the coactivators steroid receptor coactivator 1, p300, and CREB-binding protein. The importance of such proteins in enhancing nuclear hormone receptor-mediated transcriptional activation is widely accepted, and this work suggests that Tip60 may have an equally important role to play.  (+info)

Catalytic mechanism and function of invariant glutamic acid 173 from the histone acetyltransferase GCN5 transcriptional coactivator. (8/903)

Within chromatin, reversible acetylation of core histones is critical for transcriptional activation of eukaryotic target genes. The recent identification of intrinsic histone acetyltransferase (HAT) catalytic activity from a number of transcriptional co-activators (including yeast GCN5, p300/CBP, P/CAF, and TAFII250), has underscored the importance of protein acetylation in transcriptional control. The GCN5 family is the prototype for a diverse group of at least four distinct human HATs families. Although there is now a clear link between in vivo HAT catalytic activity and gene activation, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of histone acetylation. Herein, we report the first detailed biochemical study that probes the catalytic mechanism and the function of invariant glutamic acid 173 within the GCN5 family of HATs. Our results suggest that the HAT reaction involves the formation of a ternary complex (histones, acetyl-CoA, and enzyme) where the epsilon-amino group of histone lysine residues directly attacks the bound acetyl-CoA. The acetylation reaction requires deprotonation of the epsilon-amino group prior to nucleophilic attack. Employing site-directed mutagenesis, chemical modification, steady-state, and pH-dependent rate analysis, it is demonstrated that glutamic acid 173 is an essential catalytic residue, acting as a general base catalyst by deprotonating the histone substrate.  (+info)