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Journal of Virology, November 2002, p. 11159-11165, Vol. 76, No. 21
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.76.21.11159-11165.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Evidence for Regulation of Long Terminal Repeat Transcription by Wnt Transcription Factor TCF-4 in Human Astrocytic Cells
Bethany Wortman, Nune Darbinian, Bassel E. Sawaya, Kamel Khalili, and Shohreh Amini*
Center for Neurovirology and Cancer Biology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122
Received 9 October 2001/
Accepted 10 July 2002

ABSTRACT
The Wnt signaling pathway plays an important role in neural
cell development and function. The key components of this pathway,
ß-catenin and its partner TCF-4/LEF-1, exert their
effects on transcription by entering the nuclei, where they
associate with the TCF-4/LEF-1 DNA motif positioned in the promoters
of several important genes. Here we examined the role of TCF-4
upon transcription of the human immunodeficiency virus type
1 (HIV-1) promoter in human astrocytic cells. Our results showed
that expression of TCF-4 in human astrocytic cells (U-87MG cells)
decreased the basal and Tat-mediated transcription of the HIV-1
long terminal repeat (LTR). Results from promoter deletion studies
revealed that the promoter sequence of the LTR with no classical
binding motif for TCF-4/LEF-1, which spans positions -80 to
+80 of the LTR, remained responsive to down-regulation by TCF-4.
Noticeably, removal of the sequences between positions -80 and
-68 decreased the negative effect of TCF-4 on viral gene transcription.
A mutant variant of TCF-4 with no binding site for ß-catenin
was able to down-regulate LTR transcription, suggesting that
ß-catenin may not be directly involved in the observed
regulatory events. Results from the glutathione
S-transferase
pull-down assay as well as the combined immunoprecipitation
and Western blot analysis of protein extract from U-87MG cells
revealed an interaction of Tat with TCF-4. Subcellular examination
of TCF-4 and Tat in cells expressing either protein alone showed
a predominantly nuclear accumulation of these proteins. However,
in cells which coexpressed both TCF-4 and Tat, significant levels
of these proteins were found in the cytoplasm. All together,
these observations provide evidence for the cooperative interaction
of TCF-4, the important transcription factor of the Wnt pathway,
with Tat; this interaction may determine the level of viral
gene transcription in human astrocytic cells.

TEXT
Control of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gene
transcription requires the participation of a variety of cellular
proteins which collaborate with viral regulatory factors such
as Tat and Vpr (
4,
6,
9,
12,
18,
22). Most, if not all, of the
cellular regulatory proteins have the capacity to interact with
the viral promoter sequence spanning the long terminal repeat
(LTR). Further, the interaction of several proteins with each
other but without direct binding to the LTR DNA sequence seems
to be essential for optimizing viral gene transcription (
15).
Some of these proteins appear to be ubiquitously expressed in
a broad range of cells, whereas others, such as NF-

B, are inducible
and their activity is modulated by environmental stimuli (
10,
21). During the last decade, our research has been centered
on the modulation of LTR transcription in human astrocytic cells,
with emphasis on the cooperative interaction between cellular
factors and viral proteins. Recently, we paid attention to the
Wnt signaling pathway, as several studies pointed to the involvement
of this signaling pathway in a variety of biological events,
including neural cell fate (
1,
13). The most studied participant
of this pathway, ß-catenin, is usually found in the
cytoplasm, where it can be phosphorylated by glycogen synthase
kinase 3 and is subjected to proteolysis by ubiquitination (
14).
Stabilization of ß-catenin via mutation in its phosphorylation
sites, which are positioned in exon 3 (
17), and/or via its association
with other cytoplasmic proteins provides the opportunity for
this key component of the Wnt pathway to associate with cytoplasmic
transcription factors such as cytoplasmic transcription factor
4 (TCF-4), also called lymphoid enhancer binding factor 1 (LEF-1)
(
8,
13). The ß-catenin:TCF-4/LEF-1 complex, in turn,
enters the nuclei, where, by associating with the TCF-4/LEF-1
consensus DNA binding site, it stimulates transcription of the
corresponding promoter(s) (
2). In this study, we examined the
effect of the Wnt pathway on the basal and Tat-induced transcription
of HIV-1 and investigated Tat interaction with Wnt factors in
human astrocytic cells.
In the first series of experiments, cells from the U-87MG human astrocytic cell line were transfected with the LTR-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter plasmid in the absence and presence of plasmids expressing TCF-4. As shown in Fig. 1A, ectopic expression of TCF-4 decreased viral promoter activity (compare lane 1 to lane 2). A similar series of experiments was performed in the presence of Tat, the potent viral early transactivator whose expression is essential for the productive replication of HIV-1 in infected cells (16). As shown in Fig. 1B, the extent of Tat-mediated activation of LTR transcription was smaller in cells expressing TCF-4 (compare lanes 2 and 3). These observations are not restricted to U-87MG cells, as results from the transfection of primary cultures of human astrocytes revealed similar information (data not shown). Furthermore, overexpression of TCF-4 caused a noticeable decrease in the transcriptional activation by Tat of the integrated copy of the LTR-CAT sequence in the cellular gene (Fig. 1C). This observation suggests that TCF-4 is able to down-regulate transcription of the episomal and the integrated DNA containing the HIV-1 LTR sequence. To further investigate the effect of TCF-4 on the transcription of the HIV-1 promoter, we created and utilized various LTR mutants encompassing the DNA sequences between positions -117 and +80, -80 and +80, -68 and +80, and -117 and +3; all of these mutants respond, albeit to various degrees, to Tat activation in U-87MG cells (20). Results from transfection studies revealed that expression of TCF-4 diminished the level of Tat activation of the viral promoter containing the sequences spanning positions -117 to +80 and -80 to +80. Under similar conditions, TCF-4 showed a lesser effect on Tat-mediated LTR transcription, suggesting that the sequences between -80 and -68 may play an important role in the TCF-4-mediated suppression of Tat-induced LTR activation. The absence of a TCF/LEF binding site within this region of the LTR implies that TCF-mediated inactivation of the function of Tat on the LTR may be an indirect event which is independent from the association of TCF-4 with the DNA sequence.
As the region between -80 and -68 is composed of GC-rich sequences,
one may envision a role for GC-rich binding proteins such as
Sp1 in the observed regulatory event. In order to examine the
importance of the Tat-responsive transactivation response (TAR)
elements that are located between positions +1 and +80, we utilized
an LTR promoter construct containing sequences between positions
-117 and +3. As shown in Fig.
2D, the level of TAR-independent
activation of the LTR by Tat in glial cells was noticeably decreased
when cells were cotransfected with TCF.
To determine whether the association of TCF-4 with its well-studied
partner, ß-catenin, is important in the regulation
of the basal and Tat-mediated transcription of the LTR, a mutant
TCF-4 with a deletion in the ß-catenin binding site
was utilized in transfection experiments. As shown in Fig.
3,
mutant TCF-4 also showed a negative effect on the basal transcription
of the LTR (Fig.
3A) and was able to suppress the level of LTR
transcriptional activation by Tat (Fig.
3B) in U-87MG cells.
These observations suggest that the association of TCF-4 with
ß-catenin may not be directly involved in the observed
down-regulation of the LTR by TCF; the ability of TCF-4 to suppress
Tat activity in the absence and presence of TAR raised the possibility
that the interaction of TCF-4 with Tat may lead to the inactivation
of this potent viral protein in the cells. To examine the association
of Tat with TCF-4, in the first series of experiments, in vitro-synthesized
TCF-4 was incubated with glutathione
S-transferase (GST) or
GST-Tat fusion protein coupled to glutathione-Sepharose beads.
Two variants of the Tat protein, one encompassing amino acids
1 to 86 (GST-Tat 86) and the other encompassing amino acids
1 to 72 (GST-Tat 72), were utilized in this experiment. As shown
in Fig.
4A, TCF-4 bound to both the GST-Tat 86 and GST-Tat 72
proteins (lanes 3 and 4, respectively) but not to the GST protein
alone (lane 2). In the next series of experiments, we investigated
the interaction of TCF-4 with Tat in cells expressing both TCF-4
and ß-catenin. Protein extracts from U-87MG cells
transfected with plasmids expressing TCF-4, ß-catenin,
and TCF-4 plus ß-catenin were prepared and examined
for their binding activity to GST-Tat or GST prior to Western
blot analysis for detection of TCF-4. As shown in Fig.
4B, analysis
of the protein that bound to GST-Tat showed the detection of
a band corresponding to TCF-4 in protein extracts obtained from
cells transfected with TCF-4 and TCF-4 plus ß-catenin
(lanes 8 and 9, respectively). The absence of this protein band
in protein fractions from GST showed that the association of
TCF-4 with GST-Tat is a rather specific event. Interestingly,
the appearance of the protein band in lane 9 indicates that
the interaction of TCF-4 and Tat can occur in the presence of
its partner, ß-catenin.
To further investigate the in vivo interaction of Tat with TCF-4,
cells were transfected with various plasmids expressing ß-catenin,
TCF-4, and Tat in fusion with cyan fluorescent protein (CFP).
After 48 h, protein extracts were prepared and reacted with
either anti-ß-catenin or anti-TCF-4 antibodies. The
immunocomplexes were subsequently analyzed by Western blotting
with anti-Tat antibody to detect CFP-Tat. As shown in Fig.
4C,
no signal corresponding to CFP-Tat was detected in immunocomplexes
obtained upon incubation of protein extracts from cells expressing
ß-catenin (lane 2), CFP-Tat (lane 3), and ß-catenin
plus CFP-Tat (lane 4) with anti-ß-catenin antibody.
Further, immunocomplexes obtained by incubation of anti-TCF-4
antibody with cell extracts transfected with TCF-4 and CFP-Tat
showed no evidence for the presence of CFP-Tat in the complex
(lanes 6 and 7). However, the immunocomplex which was pulled
down by anti-TCF-4 antibody from extracts derived from cells
expressing TCF-4 plus CFP-Tat showed a strong band corresponding
to CFP-Tat, pointing to the interaction of TCF-4 with CFP-Tat
in these cells (lane 8). This interaction is specific to Tat,
as CFP showed no ability to bind to TCF-4 under similar conditions
and the normal control serum failed to pull down any specific
complexes that contained CFP-Tat (data not shown). Also, our
recent preliminary observation from analysis of protein extracts
from HIV-1-infected cells indicated that the immunocomplex that
was pulled down by the anti-TCF-4 antibody contains the HIV-1
Tat protein, again suggesting the association of Tat and TCF-4
during the infection cycle (B. Sawaya, data not shown). All
together, these studies established the interaction of Tat with
TCF-4, both in vitro and in protein extracts from human astrocytic
cells.
As stated earlier, TCF-4 is a transcription factor which enters the nuclei, where it exerts its regulatory action on the transcription of responsive genes. Ectopic expression of TCF-4 led to rapid nuclear accumulation of this protein in transfected cells. To investigate the subcellular localization of TCF-4 in cells expressing Tat, a plasmid expressing yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)-Tat was introduced with a plasmid expressing TCF-4 in fusion with CFP, and after 24 h, subcellular locations of both proteins were assessed. As shown in Fig. 5A and B, transfection of cells with CFP-TCF-4 or YFP-Tat alone led to the nuclear appearance of both proteins. However, in cells transfected with both proteins, some levels of CFP-TCF-4 (Fig. 5C) and YFP-Tat (Fig. 5D) were detected in the cytoplasm of the cells as well. These observations suggest that the interaction of TCF-4 and Tat may affect their subcellular localization and that both proteins are retained in the cytoplasm of cells. The changes in the compartmentalization of Tat by TCF-4 may contribute to the ability of Tat to stimulate LTR transcription. Also, the association of Tat with TCF-4 in nuclei may prevent full activation of the viral promoter by Tat.
TCF-4 is a member of the high-mobility group (HMG) box-containing
transcription factor family, whose members were originally identified
by their ability to bind the T-cell receptor enhancer (
3). Expression
of TCF-4 is not restricted to lymphoid tissue, and several studies
suggested its involvement in a variety of developmental processes,
including neurogenesis (
11). Here, we focused our attention
on regulation of HIV-1 LTR transcription by Wnt factors, including
ß-catenin and TCF-4, in human astrocytic cells. Our
results demonstrate that ectopic expression of TCF-4 in astrocytes
suppresses the basal transcriptional activity of the HIV-1 LTR
promoter. This finding is in contrast to earlier reports on
the activation of the LTR by LEF-1, another member of the HMG
protein family, in T cells (
19). The differences may be attributed
to diverse functions of the various members of HMG proteins
and/or the cell types which were utilized in this study. As
pointed out earlier, TCF-4 was able to decrease transcription
of the LTR in primary astrocytes as well as human astrocytic
cells transformed with simian virus 40 T antigen, verifying
that the observed event is not restricted to U-87MG human astrocytic
cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that TCF-4 has the capacity
to diminish Tat activation of LTR transcription independently
from the TCF-4 binding sites within the LTR, most likely by
associating with Tat protein. In support of this notion, biochemical
examination of the interaction between TCF-4 and Tat protein
verified their ability to form a stable complex, which was detected
by gel electrophoresis. Another interesting observation which
allowed us to understand the mechanism of the TCF-4 inhibitory
effect emerged from subcellular localization of TCF-4 and Tat
in human astrocytes which were ectopically transfected with
plasmids expressing TCF-4 and YFP-Tat. It was evident that while
TCF-4 and Tat alone are localized to the nuclei of cells, once
they are coexpressed, both proteins can also be found in the
cytoplasm, suggesting that the TCF-4:Tat complex is transported
from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and/or that formation of the
complex in the cytoplasm after its synthesis affects its nuclear
import. Our future studies are aimed at unraveling the mechanism
of LTR suppression through TCF-4:Tat association and the implication
of this event in the poor expression of the HIV-1 genome and
in viral replication in astrocytes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Osamu Tetsu, F. McGormick, B. Kinzler, and A. Levine
for providing various plasmids. We also thank past and present
members of the Center for Neurovirology and Cancer Biology for
their insightful discussion and sharing of ideas and reagents.
We thank C. Schriver for editorial assistance and preparation
of the manuscript.
This work was made possible by grants awarded by the NIH to K.K., B.E.S., and S.A.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Center for Neurovirology and Cancer Biology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, 1900 N. 12th St., 015-96, Room 203, Philadelphia, PA 19122. Phone: (215) 204-0604. Fax: (215) 204-0679. E-mail:
ashohreh{at}astro.temple.edu.


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Journal of Virology, November 2002, p. 11159-11165, Vol. 76, No. 21
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.76.21.11159-11165.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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