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Journal of Virology, May 2002, p. 5014-5023, Vol. 76, No. 10
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.76.10.5014-5023.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Microbiology,1 Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 277102
Received 3 December 2001/ Accepted 18 February 2002
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The HPV-11 long control region (LCR) of the genome contains the ori and binding sites for viral and host transcription and replication factors. At the 3' end of the LCR, there are two E2 binding sites separated by three bases 5' proximal to the P93 promoter (19) (Fig. 1). P93 is especially important for study because, like the BPV-1 P89 and HPV-16 P97 promoters, it controls transcription of the viral oncogenes E6 and E7 (14, 17, 48, 49, 58). In addition to transcription, P93 may also regulate HPV replication. The proximity of the E1 binding site (55) to the P93 promoter strongly suggests that E1 might directly affect P93 transcription and that P93 transcription would preclude viral replication. In the LCR, the E2 binding sites that support E1-ori binding are flanked on the 3' side by the P93 TATA box. Although BPV E2 has been shown to interact directly with transcription factor TATA-binding protein (TBP) (37, 50), studies have predicted that high concentrations of HPV-11 and -16 E2 displace TBP from the TATA site, and vice versa (6, 53). These proposals are supported by functional assays that show repression of E6/E7 transcription when E2 binds the tandem sites nearest the TATA box (6, 12, 52). Competition for adjacent binding sites and steric hindrance presumably accounted for binding repression, but this was not formally tested. On the contrary, some have suggested that steric hindrance may not be important to E2-mediated transcriptional repression (19). Because ori-dependent E1 binding requires E2, we hypothesized that if TBP directly displaces E2 from the LCR, then TBP would reduce E1 binding to the ori indirectly, thereby suppressing DNA replication.
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FIG. 1. 3' end of the HPV-11 LCR (P93 promoter), structures of fluorescein-labeled oligonucleotides TATASITE, E2TATA, and E1E2TATA, and description of pUC18/7870-99. (A) The phosphoramidite-linked fluorescein moiety structure is illustrated. (B) The sequence of the 3' end of the HPV-11 LCR and the positions of the E1, E2, and TBP binding sites are illustrated, as well as oligonucleotides TATASITE, E2TATA, and E1E2TATA. The sequence of TATASITE contains the full TATA box and its flanking bases, nucleotides 58 to 75. Oligonucleotide E2TATA, nucleotides 45 to 89, contains the TATA box and the adjacent E2 site. Oligonucleotide E1E2TATA, nucleotides 7908 to 98, contains the E1, two E2, and TBP binding sites. The plasmid pUC18/7870-99 contains nucleotides 7870 to 99 with the E1, three E2, and TBP binding sites ligated into pUC18. Note that sequence numbering begins at the origin in the E1 binding site.
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HPV-11 E1 purification. Homogeneously pure HPV-11 E1 protein from baculovirus-transfected Sf9 cells was a gift from W. Rocque (GlaxoSmithKline, Inc.) (39). The concentration of E1 was determined by quantitative amino acid analysis. E1 was stored at -80°C.
Human TBPc purification. Human TBPc (amino acids 159 to 344; 20,757 Da) protein purified from E. coli was a gift from D. Gewirth (Duke University). It was purified as described in previously published protocols (22). The TBPc concentration was determined by the Lowry assay, and the protein was stored at -80°C.
Cell-free replication assays.
Suspension 293 cells were maintained in Joklik's medium with 5% calf serum until the density reached 5 x 105 cells/ml. Whole-cell extracts were prepared as with previously published protocols (29). The conditions for HPV-11 cell-free replication assays were modified from previous protocols (25, 31). Briefly, 5 nM HPV-11 origin plasmid (pUC18/7870-99; kindly provided by W. Phelps) (Fig. 1) was incubated in a replication mixture of 293 extract supplemented with 20 mM Tris (pH 7.5), 200 µg of bovine serum albumin/ml, 7 mM MgCl2, 2 mM ß-mercaptoethanol, 100 µM (each) deoxynucleoside triphosphates, 140 nM ATP, 20 µM (each) nucleoside triphosphates, 2 mM phosphocreatine, and 125 U of creatine phosphokinase/liter. The viral proteins E1, E2, and human TBPc were added as indicated in the figures. Reactions were incubated at 25°C for 30 min before adding [
-32P]dATP to reduce background replication. The reactions were then placed at 37°C for 3 h. Replication was stopped by adding 10 µl of a solution containing 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate, 250 mM EDTA, and 2 mg of proteinase K/ml. Reactions were incubated for 30 min at 37°C and were phenol-chloroform-isoamyl alcohol (25:24:1) extracted. After ethanol precipitation, products were resuspended in 40 µl of 10 mM Tris (pH/8.0), and NdeI digested to aid quantification. Results were run on a 1% agarose gel, and the gel was dried and exposed to RXB film (Denville Scientific). Results were quantified by scintillation counting and/or use of PhosphorImager (Molecular Dynamics). To perform scintillation counting, digested product (10 µl) was dotted onto DE81 ion-exchange paper (Whatman). After drying, papers were washed with 5% NaH2PO4, distilled water, 100% ethanol, and acetone. Papers were placed in scintillation vials with 10 ml of scintillation fluid (Safety-Solve) and counted by a Beckman scintillation counter.
Synthetic oligonucleotides. PAGE-purified, 5'-fluorescein phosphoramidite-labeled oligonucleotides (44) were obtained commercially (Sigma/Genosys Corp.). Contaminating unlabeled oligonucleotide was less than 2% (manufacturer's quality control report). Each oligonucleotide was resuspended to a concentration of 10 µM in a buffer with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.5), 1 mM EDTA, and 500 mM NaCl. To anneal complementary oligonucleotides, equimolar amounts were mixed and placed at 95°C for 5 min, and then the temperature was dropped slowly over 2 h to 20°C below the oligonucleotide's melting point or room temperature, whichever was higher, under which condition it continued to anneal overnight. PAGE analysis of samples indicated 100% annealing. Oligonucleotide concentrations were confirmed from measured optical densities at 260 nm. Annealed oligonucleotides were stored at -20°C. The sequences of TATASITE and E2TATA are shown in Fig. 1.
PCR-produced oligonucleotides. PAGE-purified, 5'-fluorescein phosphoramidite-labeled oligonucleotide PCR primers were obtained commercially (Sigma/Genosys Corp.) and used without further purification. Contaminating unlabeled oligonucleotide was less than 2% (manufacturer's quality control report). These 18-mers (5'-FCACACCCTACATATTTCC and 5'-FGCCTCGTCTGCAATTTTT) were used to amplify a 124-bp region of the HPV-11 LCR containing the E1, E2, and TBP binding sites from plasmid pW7 (kindly provided by W. Phelps, GlaxoSmithKline, Inc.), which contains the entire HPV-11 genome. Amplification was done in a GeneMate PCR machine. The doubly labeled product, E1E2TATA, was checked by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis; a single PCR product of the expected length was made (results not shown). E1E2TATA was purified according to Qiagen's Gel Extraction Kit protocol. The sequence for E1E2TATA is shown in Fig. 1.
Antibodies. Antibodies to E1 (mouse monoclonal 82.15) and E2 (rabbit polyclonal IC538 to HPV11-E2c) were gifts from W. Phelps. Rabbit polyclonal human TBP antibody was purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology.
Fluorescence anisotropy.
Because of the ease of reproducibility and the preciseness of data generated by using fluorescence anisotropy, this technique rather than gel shift analysis was used to measure protein-DNA binding in solution at equilibrium. Fluorescence anisotropy measures changes in the molecular rotation of a complex in solution. Molecular rotation (anisotropy) is affected by temperature (T), viscosity of the solution (
), and the Stokes volume of the particle (V), yielding equation 1 (26):
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is the fluorescence half-life and R is the gas constant. Keeping T and
constant, we can reliably and reproducibly measure binding of protein to a fluorescently labeled oligonucleotide by the changing Stokes radius, or hydrated volume, of a fluorescent molecule as proteins bind it. Large complexes rotate slowly and have high anisotropies (A), whereas small complexes rotate quickly and have low anisotropies.
All fluorescence measurements were made using an SLM-Aminco 8100 spectrofluorometer assembled in the "T" geometry and equipped with Glanz-Thompson polarizers in the excitation and emission beams. Experiments were repeated at least two times. Titration buffer consisted of 20 mM Tris, pH 8.0, 150 mM KCl, 5 mM EDTA, 200 µg of bovine serum albumin/ml, and 5 mM dithiothreitol. Samples, prepared in duplicate, were maintained at 25.0 ± 0.2°C. A minimum of 10 min equilibration time was given prior to each measurement. Samples were excited with 490-nm light, with the excitation slit at 4 mm. Emitted light was collected through 3-mm-thick OG-515 filters. The fluorescence anisotropy of each sample was determined by duplicate sets of 10 measurements per set. The dissociation constant for each complex was determined by measurement of the steady state anisotropy of the fluorescein-labeled oligonucleotide as a function of added protein. The anisotropy limits of the titrations, corresponding to free fluorescein-labeled oligonucleotide (Af) and protein-bound fluorescein-labeled oligonucleotide (Ab), as well as the observed anisotropy (A) and the fractional change in fluorescein quantum yield upon binding (q), were used to calculate the fraction of fluorescein-labeled oligonucleotide bound (Fb) with protein as described in equation 2 (26):
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are the fluorescence intensities with parallel and perpendicularly oriented excitation and emission polarizers.
Determination of Ki of TBPc.
Fluorescence anisotropy measurements as described above were done in the presence and absence of excess amounts of TBPc over oligonucleotide to determine the effect of TBPc on E2 binding. If the titration was saturable, an apparent Kd of the added protein in the presence of TBPc was determined. Comparing the actual Kd to the apparent Kds of the added protein, the Ki of TBPc was determined as described in equation 4 (46):
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To determine the effects of TBPc on HPV-11 E1/E2-mediated DNA replication, increasing amounts of TBPc were added to replication reactions containing 5 nM E1 in either the presence or absence of 7.5 nM E2 (Fig. 2a). This E1 concentration allowed for measured stimulation by E2 (50% increase above E1 alone) but was still high enough to induce DNA replication in an E2-independent manner. Increasing the TBPc concentration did not affect E2-independent replication; conversely, the addition of TBPc to E2-stimulated replication assays effectively inhibited replication. The reduction of replication below that of E2-independent replication suggests that E2 sequesters E1 in solution in the presence of TBPc. Quantitative analysis of TBPc inhibition of E2-stimulated replication yielded a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 0.56 nM (Fig. 2b). Identical results were obtained when using full-length human TBP (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) rather than TBPc (data not shown).
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FIG. 2. TBPc inhibits E2-stimulated replication and does not affect E2-independent replication. (A) NdeI-digested replication products from cell-free replication assays using HPV-11 ori-containing plasmid (pUC18/7870-99) and increasing TBPc. Cell-free replication assays were performed as outlined in Materials and Methods. E1, E2, and TBPc are added as noted. Lanes correlating to initial and base intensity of counts (I0 and Ibase) are indicated. (B) Several E2-stimulated (circles) and E2-independent (squares) replication assays with increasing TBPc concentration were quantified by PhosphoImager and filter washing as outlined in Materials and Methods. Data were normalized to E2-stimulated replication. The data were fit to 2-parameter hyperbolic decay (r2 = 0.96 with E2 present) and first-order polynomial regression curves (y-intercept = 0.657; correlation coefficient = 1.12 x 10-5 without E2 present). Analysis of 2-parameter hyperbolic decay yields an IC50 of 0.56 nM.
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FIG. 3. Increasing E1 concentration is not sufficient to overcome inhibition by TBPc in cell-free replication assays. (A) NdeI-digested replication products from cell-free replication assays using HPV-11 ori-containing plasmid (pUC18/7870-99) and increasing E1. Cell-free replication assays were performed as outlined in Materials and Methods. E1, E2, and TBPc are added as noted. Lanes correlating to initial intensity (I0) are indicated. (B) Several replication assays with (circles) and without (squares) TBPc were quantified by PhosphoImager and filter washing as outlined in Materials and Methods. The data were fit to single rectangular hyperbolic curves (r2 = 0.97 and 0.95, with and without TBPc present, respectively). Note that the curves generated by the data indicate that TBPc acts as a noncompetitive inhibitor.
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FIG. 4. Association of HPV-11 E2 with TBPc-TATASITE. (A) E2 was titrated onto 1 nM TBPc-TATASITE in titration buffer as described in Materials and Methods. The fluorescence anisotropy of the solution was determined after each addition of E2. The data behaved as a single class of noninteracting E2 binding sites. Using the observed fluorescence anisotropies of the free and bound TBPc-TATASITE, the fraction of TBPc-TATASITE bound to E2 was calculated. The data were fit to the Michaelis-Menton equation using a Newton-Gauss iterative least-squares regression analysis assuming a single class of noninteracting E2 binding sites (SigmaPlot). The fraction of TBPc-TATASITE bound by E2 was plotted as a function of the log of the free E2 concentration. The binding curve shown corresponds to an E2-TBPc-TATASITE Kd of 2.3 nM (r2= 0.96). A theoretical curve (dashed line) corresponding to a Kd of 0.56 nM (r2 = 0.58 with this data) is illustrated. (B) Upon saturation of TBPc-TATASITE with E2, rabbit polyclonal anti-TBP and rabbit polyclonal anti-E2 antibodies were added. The fluorescence anisotropy of the solutions was determined for each antibody separately and combined. The addition of each antibody resulted in statistically significant anisotropy increases, confirming that fluorescence anisotropy is affected by the presence of each protein. The anisotropy measurement from adding both antibodies was cumulative and significant, showing the presence of both TBPc and E2 on TATASITE.
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Affinity of HPV-11 E2 protein for DNA is reduced in the presence of TBPc. To test whether TBPc affects E2-DNA binding directly, we first determined the affinity of E2 for its binding site nearest the TATA site in the absence of TBPc and E1. A fluorescein-labeled oligonucleotide, E2TATA (Fig. 1), was titrated with purified E2 protein, and an E2-E2TATA association was determined by measuring changes in fluorescein fluorescence anisotropy of E2TATA upon titration with E2 (Fig. 5). E2TATA binding by E2 was saturable, and the data were consistent with a single class of noninteracting binding sites. The Kd for this interaction was 1.1 nM.
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FIG. 5. Association of HPV-11 E2 with E2TATA in the presence and absence of excess TBPc. E2 was titrated into 1 nM E2TATA in titration buffer, and the fluorescence anisotropy of the solution was determined after each addition of E2 as described in Materials and Methods. For titrations in the presence of TBPc, a final concentration of 2 or 4 nM TBPc was added prior to the addition of E2. Using the observed fluorescence anisotropies of the free and bound oligonucleotide, the fraction of oligonucleotide bound to E2 could be calculated as described in Materials and Methods. The fraction of E2TATA bound by E2 was then plotted as a function of the log of the free E2 concentration as described in Fig. 4. The binding curves shown correspond to E2-E1E2TATA Kds of 1.1 nM (no TBPc, circles; r2 = 0.96), 4.3 nM (with 2 nM TBPc, squares; r2 = 0.99), and 10.3 nM (with 4 nM TBPc, triangles; r2 = 0.96), respectively. The Ki of TBPc was determined to be 0.5 ± 0.1 nM.
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To determine the overall affinity of E2 for its tandem binding sites in the E6 promoter, E1E2TATA (Fig. 1) was titrated with purified E2. E2-E1E2TATA association was determined by measuring changes in fluorescein fluorescence anisotropy upon titration with E2 as outlined previously (Fig. 6). Because the anisotropy changes for each E2 association with E1E2TATA are unknown, the data are presented in terms of relative anisotropy change rather than as oligonucleotide fraction bound versus total E2 concentration. E1E2TATA binding by E2 did not appear to be saturable at attainable E2 concentrations, yielding an apparent [E2]0.5 bound (
Kd) of >150 nM. This is consistent with our previous experiments with other long oligonucleotides (4) (see Discussion).
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FIG. 6. Association of HPV-11 E2 with E1E2TATA in the presence and absence of excess HPV-11 E1. E1E2TATA (1nM) in titration buffer was titrated with E2. For titrations in the presence of E1, a final concentration of 10 nM E1 was added prior to titration with E2. Data were collected and analyzed as described above. Since the E2-E1E2TATA interaction did not reach saturation, the data were not fit to a curve, and the [E2]0.5 ( Kd) could only be estimated. The E1-E2-E1E2TATA interaction was analyzed by Hill fit to examine cooperativity of E2 binding. Because E2 binds to two sites, the graph is expressed as total E2 concentration as a function of relative anisotropy change, experimental saturation being 1.0. The binding curves correspond to an [E2]0.5 bound of 2.1 nM with a Hill coefficient of 1.5 (with E1, circles; r2 = 0.99) and an [E2]0.5 bound of >150 nM (without E1, squares; estimated).
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Since TBPc was an effective inhibitor of E2 binding to E2TATA, E2 was titrated into E1E2TATA with 10 nM E1 and various amounts of TBPc in excess over the oligonucleotide to determine if TBPc inhibits E2 binding in the presence of E1 (Fig. 7). As above, E2-E1E2TATA association was determined by changes in fluorescence anisotropy. Titration of E2 into a solution containing 1 nM E1E2TATA, 10 nM E1, and 2 nM TBPc yielded an apparent [E2]0.5 bound of 6.3 nM and a Hill coefficient of 1.4 (Fig. 7). The apparent [E2]0.5 bound increased to approximately 65 nM when E2 was titrated in the presence 1 nM E2TATA, 10 nM E1, and 8 nM TBPc (Fig. 7). When compared to E2 binding in the absence of TBPc (Fig. 7), these data suggest that TBPc effectively inhibits E2-DNA binding even in the presence of E1. Importantly, the Ki of TBPc in these experiments was determined to be 0.6 ± 0.3 nM, within the statistical deviation of the Ki determined for TBPc-mediated antagonism of E2 binding to E2TATA in the absence of E1 and consistent with the IC50 calculated by replication assays.
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FIG. 7. Association of HPV-11 E2 and HPV-11 E1 with E1E2TATA in the presence and absence of excess TBPc. One nanomolar E1E2TATA and 10 nM E1 in titration buffer were titrated with E2. In titrations with excess TBPc, a final concentration of 2 or 8 nM TBPc was added before titration with E2. Data were collected and analyzed as above. The binding curves correspond to apparent [E2]0.5 bound values (as defined above) of 2.1 nM (no TBPc, circles; Hill coefficient = 1.5; r2 = 0.99), 6.3 nM (with 2 nM TBPc, squares; Hill coefficient = 1.4; r2 = 0.98), and 65 nM (with 8 nM TBPc, triangles; r2= 0.98). The Ki of TBPc was determined to be 0.6 ± 0.3 nM.
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FIG. 8. No TBPc is present on fluorescent oligonucleotides at the point of saturation with E2. First anti-TBP and then anti-E2 rabbit polyclonal antibodies were added to 1 nM E2TATA or E1E2TATA, 2 nM TBPc, a saturating concentration of E2 (32 nM), and 10 nM E1, in the case of E1E2TATA, in titration buffer. A small (nonsaturating) amount of murine anti-E1 antibody was added to the E1E2TATA sample after anti-E2 was added. After each addition of antibody the change in fluorescence anisotropy was measured. The addition of anti-TBP antibody did not yield a statistically significant anisotropy increase for either oligonucleotide saturated with E2, but the addition of anti-E2 (and anti-E1) antibody did produce significant increases.
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In reaching the conclusions of this work, some seeming irregularities in the data surfaced. As shown in Fig. 5, where E2 is titrated onto E2TATA in the presence of TBPc, the slopes of the data increased at increasing E2 concentrations. This was unexpected given the presence of only a single E2 site on the fluorescent oligonucleotide. This effect was not seen in the case without TBPc. A possible explanation for this phenomenon would be interaction between free E2 and TBPc in solution that effectively titrated out inhibitor at high E2 concentrations. This is supported by the Kd (2.3 nM) calculated for the TBPc-E2 interaction (Fig. 4). In the absence of TBPc available to bind DNA at high E2 concentrations (i.e., removing the competitive inhibitor), E2 would bind E2TATA increasingly as it did in the curve without TBPc present. This effect is not seen at low E2 concentrations because nearly all of the TBPc is free in solution or bound to DNA. Since this circumstance appears to occur at concentrations above the apparent Kd, it is unlikely to have a large effect on the overall apparent Kd used in the calculations for TBPc's Ki. The phenomenon, however, does portend a dual mechanism for overcoming TBPc-mediated E2 binding suppression at increasing E2 concentrations.
A second irregularity is that E2TATA and E1E2TATA were titrated under identical conditions with E2, and titration onto the former oligonucleotide was saturable while titration onto the latter was not (Fig. 5 and 6). This is consistent with previous findings using a 62-bp oligonucleotide containing one E2 site and suggests that variation of DNA structure surrounding the E2 binding site palindrome may be a determinant of DNA binding affinity (4). Others have also presented evidence that DNA binding by BPV-1 and HPV-16 E2 are also affected by structures extending beyond the 12-bp E2 binding site palindrome (30, 54). Though one might speculate that E1E2TATA contains secondary structure that would interfere with E2 binding, this possibility is unlikely. We purified the PCR product from a 2% agarose gel and noted that one product of the predicted length was purified. This would refute the notion that E1E2TATA contains secondary structure. Given E2's very low tissue concentrations, significant E2 binding to the tandem sites in the P93 promoter is likely to occur only with the concurrent association of the E1 protein, as the presence of E1 greatly enhances binding of E2 to the longer oligonucleotide, E1E2TATA (Fig. 6). E2's cooperative binding to adjacent sites upon the addition of E1 shows that the decreased affinity for the long oligonucleotide is not due to steric occlusion of one E2 binding site by the other. The cooperation of E1-E2 and E2-E2 association at the P93 promoter may work to block transcription and initiate replication by preventing TBP binding to the TATA box.
Role of E1/E2 binding in transcription control. Our data complement much of what others have shown for transcriptional control of the P93 promoter. E2-mediated dislocation of TBP from the TATA site in P93 would explain the inhibitory effect that E2 has in some transcriptional assays (7, 13, 16, 40, 51, 52, 53, 56). In this work, excess TBPc consistently inhibits E2-DNA association with a Ki of 0.5 to 0.6 nM (Fig. 5 and 7). According to the principle of conservation of Gibb's free energy (59), we predict in turn that E2 would inhibit TBPc binding at P93. Indeed, E2 does displace TBPc from the oligonucleotides (Fig. 8), though TBPc binds each oligonucleotide when it is added prior to the addition of E2 (data not shown). This supports conclusions made by others who found that TBP and E2 binding at P93 were mutually exclusive (19). As indicated by the identical Kis calculated in Fig. 5 and 7, the mechanism of TBPc inhibition is not oligonucleotide length dependent, suggesting that structures outside the TATA site are unimportant in directing E2-P93 binding inhibition.
One might imagine that DNA bending or other distortion conferred by E2 binding would inhibit TBPc binding. When E2 interferes with TBPc binding, bending of the DNA in P93 may add to E2's inhibitory effect, but the strength of TBPc's Ki would suggest that it is not very significant in our study. Additionally, if DNA bending by E2 contributed a great deal of binding inhibition to TBPc, the presence of E1, which stabilizes E2 on the DNA, should increase the Ki of TBPc. We have shown in fact that TBPc's Ki does not change in the presence of E1.
Using transcriptional assays, others have demonstrated that E2's inhibition of TBP binding is independent of cofactors and transcriptional corepressors (19). They go on to speculate that E2 inhibits multiple steps of the transcriptional preinitiation assembly complex and that steric interference may not be important. Even the simplest transcriptional assay is not ideally suited to measuring the intrinsic value of steric interference and the essential nature of E2-TBP binding repression. In addition, they did not assess the effect of E1 or its ability to enhance E2 binding in their assays. This is an important effect to consider, since previous studies have indicated that HPV-16 and BPV-1 E1-mutant viruses had increased transforming and transcriptional activity because regulation from the major early promoters P97 and P89 was disrupted (27, 41, 43). Consistent with transcriptional repression by E1, high concentrations of BPV-1 E1 protein significantly repressed transcription from P89 (28, 42). In contrast to transcriptional assays, our fluorescence system has the advantage of looking directly at the E1-E2-TBPc-P93 interaction, and though E2 may play a more complex role in transcriptional repression, the data here suggest that the underlying mechanism of binding repression is steric hindrance. This repression phenomenon may differ throughout the genome where E2 binding site affinities change and may explain the differences in the trans activation or repression capabilities of E2 depending on the promoter contexts.
Model for HPV replication initiation. Combining these observations, we propose a working model for coordinated control of papillomavirus transcription and replication based upon interactions between host cell transcription factors and the viral E1 and E2 proteins (Fig. 9). The fact that TBPc behaves as a noncompetitive inhibitor of E1 yet acts competitively with E2 yields insight into the mechanism of TBPc inhibition. In this model, transcription factor proteins, such as TBP, would bind the viral LCR, thereby excluding E2-LCR association. In the absence of binding of E2 to the LCR, E1 binding to the viral origin of replication would be inefficient, resulting in TBP-mediated suppression of DNA replication by stimulating transcription. Low concentrations of E1 and E2 in undifferentiated keratinocytes may allow enough viral DNA replication to occur during cell division to maintain the genome. Reciprocally, increased E1 and E2 protein concentrations, such as occur during differentiation of papillomavirus-infected keratinocytes (23, 35), would promote E1 and E2 binding to the LCR, thereby displacing TBP from its binding site. It is uncertain what happens to TBP levels during keratinocyte differentiation, so our model reflects the idea that increasing E1 and E2 levels initiate vegetative replication, not necessarily a decrease in the TBP concentration. Decreased binding of TBP at the P93 promoter would suppress transcription of the E6/E7 open reading frames and promote initiation of replication. This steric model provides a simple explanation of how TBP represses replication by inhibiting binding of the E1-E2 complex at the ori.
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FIG. 9. Model of TBP-mediated coordinated control of viral replication and transcription. See Discussion.
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, associate with E1 and very likely affect the affinity of E1 for DNA (36). Each of these factors will impinge upon the E2-DNA interaction, directly or through other proteins, to provide differentiation-specific control of papillomavirus transcription and replication.
This work was supported by grants from The Smokeless Tobacco Research Council, Inc., The Children's Miracle Network, and the National Institutes of Health (R01 CA81214).
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-primase is required for papillomavirus DNA replication and associates with the viral E1 helicase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:8700-8704.
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