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Journal of Virology, January 2000, p. 379-389, Vol. 74, No. 1
0022-538X/0/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Sequence and Functional Analysis of EBNA-LP and EBNA2 Proteins from Nonhuman Primate Lymphocryptoviruses

RongSheng Peng,1 Alexey V. Gordadze,1 Ezequiel M. Fuentes Pananá,1 Fred Wang,2 Jianchao Zong,3 Gary S. Hayward,3 Jie Tan,1 and Paul D. Ling1,*

Division of Molecular Virology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 770301; Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 021152; and Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 212053

Received 16 July 1999/Accepted 20 September 1999

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) EBNA-LP and EBNA2 proteins are the first to be synthesized during establishment of latent infection in B lymphocytes. EBNA2 is a key transcriptional regulator of both viral and cellular gene expression and is essential for EBV-induced immortalization of B lymphocytes. EBNA-LP is also important for EBV-induced immortalization of B lymphocytes, but far less is known about the functional domains and cellular cofactors that mediate EBNA-LP function. While recent studies suggest that serine phosphorylation of EBNA-LP and coactivation of EBNA2-mediated transactivation are important, more detailed mutational and genetic studies are complicated by the repeat regions that comprise the majority of the EBNA-LP sequence. Therefore, we have used a comparative approach by studying the EBNA-LP homologues from baboon and rhesus macaque lymphocryptoviruses (LCVs) (baboon LCV and rhesus LCV). The predicted baboon and rhesus LCV EBNA-LP amino acid sequences are 61 and 64% identical to the EBV EBNA-LP W1 and W2 exons and 51% identical to the EBV EBNA-LP Y1 and Y2 exons. Five evolutionarily conserved regions can be defined, and four of eight potential serine residues are conserved among all three EBNA-LPs. The major internal repeat sequence also revealed a highly conserved Wp EBNA promoter with strong conservation of upstream activating sequences important for Wp transcriptional regulation. To test whether transcriptional coactivating properties were common to the rhesus LCV EBNA-LP, a rhesus LCV EBNA2 homologue was cloned and expressed. The rhesus LCV EBNA2 transcriptionally transactivates EBNA2-responsive promoters through a CBF1-dependent mechanism. The rhesus LCV EBNA-LP was able to further enhance rhesus LCV or EBV EBNA2 transactivation 5- to 12-fold. Thus, there is strong structural and functional conservation among the simian EBNA-LP homologues. Identification of evolutionarily conserved serine residues and regions in EBNA-LP homologues provides important clues for identifying the cellular cofactors and molecular mechanisms mediating these conserved viral functions.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Molecular Virology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030. Phone: (713) 798-8474. Fax: (713) 798-3586. E-mail: pling{at}bcm.tmc.edu.

Journal of Virology, January 2000, p. 379-389, Vol. 74, No. 1
0022-538X/0/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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