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Journal of Virology, January 2005, p. 745-755, Vol. 79, No. 2
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.79.2.745-755.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center,1 Department of Medicine,3 Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina,4 Departments of Internal Medicine and Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan2
Received 22 June 2004/ Accepted 23 August 2004
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Like all herpesviruses, EBV can infect cells in either the latent or the lytic form. While EBV infection in B cells usually results in one of the latent forms of infection, infection of oral epithelial cells (as exemplified by the lateral tongue lesion oral hairy leukoplakia) (39) is normally completely lytic (53). Nevertheless, in the epithelial tumor nasopharyngeal carcinoma, most cells contain the type II form of latent viral infection, and only a small percentage of tumor cells are lytically infected (33). In EBV-positive gastric carcinoma cells, the majority of tumor cells are also found to contain a latent form of viral infection (50). However, the lytic form of EBV infection is also found in a small number of EBV-positive gastric carcinoma cells (18). Whether normal gastric epithelial cells are infected by EBV in healthy individuals remains unknown.
During the lytic form of EBV infection, viral replication is mediated by the virally encoded DNA polymerase, using an origin of replication referred to as oriLyt (11, 15). EBV DNA polymerase activity requires both the catalytic component of the enzyme (encoded by the EBV BALF5 gene) as well as the polymerase processivity activity (encoded by the BMRF1 gene) (23, 52). Interestingly, the BMRF1 gene product has also been shown to transcriptionally activate an early EBV promoter, BHLF1 (63-65).
BHLF1 is one of two divergent early promoters contained within the lytic origin of replication, oriLyt (10, 15). BMRF1 activation of the BHLF1 promoter is mediated by a GC-rich motif that binds to both SP1 and ZBP-89 (3, 14, 64). Furthermore, the BMRF1-responsive region of the BHLF1 promoter is also required in cis for oriLyt replication (3, 42). In addition, BMRF1 has been reported to interact directly with both the ZBP-89 and SP1 proteins (3). A model suggesting that the interaction between BMRF1 and ZBP-89/SP1 bound to oriLyt may be essential for the formation of the initial replication complex has been proposed (3). However, what the mechanism for the BMRF1 transcriptional effect is and whether the transcriptional effect of BMRF1 is essential for oriLyt replication are not yet known.
In this report, we demonstrate that BMRF1 transcriptionally activates the cellular gastrin promoter. Microarray analysis of telomerase-immortalized keratinocytes (TIK cells) infected with a BMRF1 adenovirus vector or a control adenovirus vector indicated that BMRF1 greatly enhances gastrin gene expression. This result was subsequently confirmed by Northern blot analysis. BMRF1 also activated the gastrin promoter linked to the luciferase gene in HeLa, AGS, DG75, and Raji cells. The BMRF1 effect was mediated through two GC-rich motifs in the gastrin promoter which are bound by both SP1 and ZBP-89. ZBP-89 has been previously shown to be a negative regulator of the gastrin promoter, while SP1 is a positive regulator (29, 34). BMRF1 enhanced ZBP-89 binding to the gastrin promoter without affecting SP1 binding. However, BMRF1 significantly activated the transcriptional function of GAL4 fusion proteins linked to either the ZBP-89 or SP1 protein. These results suggest that BMRF1 activates target promoters through its effects on both the SP1 and ZBP-89 cellular transcription factors.
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Plasmid vectors. The BMRF1 expression vector (SG5-BMRF1) has been previously described (65) and contains the 1,341-bp BclI-BglII fragment of the EBV BamHI M fragment subcloned into the BamHI and BglII sites of the SG5 vector (Stratagene) under the control of the simian virus 40 early promoter (a gift from David Dorsky). In-frame deletions of the BMRF1 protein removing various residues of the carboxy-terminal transactivator domain were also constructed as previously described (63). A gastrin reporter construct containing the wild-type human gastrin promoter linked to the luciferase gene, 240GASLuc, as well as a series of site-directed mutants in the 240GASLuc construct, were constructed as previously described (43). Additionally, a site-directed mutation of the potential AP2 site was created in the 240GASLuc reporter construct using the unique site elimination method (7). The mutagenic primer carrying the desired mutation in the AP2 element contained 15 complimentary nucleotides on either side of a 4-bp substitution (underlined). The oligo-nucleotide used was 242-5' CTGGAGAGCTGCCGCTTTTCCGCTCCAGCCCCTC. The SP1-GAL4 and ZBP-89 GAL4 fusion proteins were constructed as previously described (3) and were a gift from W. Hammerschmidt. The SG424 control vector (expressing the GAL4 DNA binding domain alone) and the GAL4-E1b-CAT plasmid (containing five copies of the GAL4 DNA binding motif upstream of a minimal adenovirus E1B promoter driving the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase [CAT] gene) were constructed as previously described (31) and were gifts from M. Green. Vectors expressing the rat ZBP-89 cDNA (with or without a Flag tag) under the control of the cytomegalovirus immediate early promoter in the pcDNA3 vector (Invitrogen) were constructed as previously described (1, 34).
Reporter gene assays. Epithelial cells were transfected by using FuGENE 6 (Roche) or Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen) with plasmids that had been purified by using the Qiagen Maxiprep kit. Lymphoid cells were transfected by electroporation with 1,500 V from a Zapper electroporation unit (Medical Electronics Shop, University of Wisconsin). CAT assays were performed as previously described (13) by using extracts harvested 48 h posttransfection. The percent acetylation of chloramphenicol was quantitated by thin-layer chromatography followed by PhosphorImager (Molecular Dynamics) scanning. Luciferase assays were performed 48 h after transfection by using extracts prepared by freeze-thawing the cell pellet in 0.25 M Tris, pH 7.5. Luciferase activity was determined with an Auto Lumat LB953 luminometer (EG&G Berthold) in an assay buffer containing 12.5 mM glycylglycine, 2 mM EGTA, 7.5 mM MgSO4, 7.5 mM K2HPO4, 0.5 mM dithiothreitol (DTT), 1 mM ATP, 100 µM luciferin, and 50 mM Tris.
Adenoviral vectors and infections. An E1/E3-deficient adenovirus vector expressing the EBV BMRF1 protein under the control of the human cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter (AdBMRF1) was made by using the recombinant Cre-lox-mediated recombination system as previously described (56). The control adenovirus vector (AdLacZ) is identical to AdBMRF1 except that it contains the bacterial ß-galactosidase gene in place of the BMRF1 gene. All adenovirus preparations were confirmed to be free of detectable wild-type virus. Adenovirus infections of telomerase-immortalized human keratinocytes were performed with a multiplicity of infection of 20.
Affymetrix gene chip analysis. Telomerase-immortalized human keratinocytes were plated at 2 x 107 cells per 150-mm dish and then either mock infected or infected with adenovirus expressing LacZ or BMRF1. The cells were harvested 48 h later, and total RNA was obtained with an RNeasy kit (Qiagen). From each condition, cDNA was then synthesized using a T7-dT24 primer (cDNA kit from Life Technologies). Biotinylated cRNA was then generated from the cDNA reaction by using a BioArray high-yield RNA transcription kit. The cRNA was then fragmented in fragmentation buffer (5x fragmentation buffer: 200 mM Tris acetate [OAc], pH 8.1; 500 mM KOAc; 150 mM MgOAc) at 94°C for 35 min before chip hybridization. Fragmented cRNA (15 µg) was then added to a hybridization cocktail (0.05 µg of fragmented cRNA per µl; 50 pM control oligonucleotide B2; BioB, BioC, BioD, and cre hybridization controls; 0.1 mg of herring sperm DNA per ml; 0.5 mg of acetylated bovine serum albumin per ml; 100 mM morpholineethanesulfonic acid; 1 M [Na+]; 20 mM EDTA; 0.01% Tween 20) and a GeneChip HuGeneFL array, which provides gene expression data for approximately 5,000 full-length human sequences. Arrays were hybridized for 16 h in a GeneChip Fluidics Station 400 and were washed and scanned with a Hewlett Packard gene array scanner. During the washing, the cRNA probe was labeled with R-phycoerythrin streptavidin. Affymetrix GeneChip microarray suite 4.0 software was used for washing, scanning, and basic analysis. Sample quality was assessed by examination of 3'-to-5' intensity ratios of certain genes.
Northern blotting. Total RNA was prepared with an RNeasy kit (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Total RNA (10 µg) was subjected to denaturing agarose gel electrophoresis, and fractionated RNA was transferred to a Nytran SuPerCharge membrane by using the Turboblotter system (Schleicher and Schuell) according to the manufacturer's specifications. Following transfer, RNA was cross-linked to the membrane via UV irradiation (1,200 J). A DNA probe directed against the gastrin cDNA was amplified by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR, gel purified with a Qiagen gel extraction kit, and 32P-radiolabeled with a Prime-A-Gene kit (Promega). A labeled GAPDH probe (Ambion) was used as a control. Unincorporated radioactivity was removed with Sephadex G-50 columns (Amersham). Prehybridization and hybridization (2 x 106 cpm of probe) were performed in Quikhyb solution (Stratagene) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Immunoblotting. Cell extracts were lysed in NP-40 lysis buffer supplemented with protease and phosphatase inhibitors. Equivalent amounts of proteins were separated on sodium dodecyl sulfate-10% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gels and blotted on a nitrocellulose membrane. The membranes were then blocked in blocking buffer (1x phosphate-buffered saline [PBS], 0.1% Tween 20, 5% milk) at room temperature for 60 min and then incubated at room temperature for 60 min with either a primary antibody directed against BMRF1 (1:5,000; E-ED-71 clone, a gift from Janos Luka, Eastern Virginia Medical School) or 0.5 µg of mouse M2 anti-Flag (Sigma) per ml in blocking buffer. The membranes were washed in wash buffer (1x PBS, 0.1% Tween 20) and incubated with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody (1:10,000; Promega) at room temperature for 60 min. The membranes were washed in wash buffer, and proteins were detected by enhanced chemiluminescence (detection reagents for enhanced chemiluminescence Western blotting were from Amersham Biosciences).
EMSAs.
For electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs), DG75 cells were transfected with SG5 vector, BMRF1 vector, Flag-tagged ZBP-89 alone, or the combination of BMRF1 and Flag-tagged ZBP-89. Whole-cell extracts were prepared 48 h after transfection. Briefly, cells were washed with PBS followed by resuspension in lysis buffer (50 mM HEPES, pH 7.9; 250 mM NaCl; 0.1% NP-40; 5 mM EDTA; 5 mM DTT; 1x Complete protease inhibitors [Roche]; 15% glycerol). Cells were lysed by three freeze-thaw cycles. Cellular debris was removed by centrifugation at 10,000 x g for 15 min. Supernatants were removed and used as whole-cell extracts. Oligonucleotides containing the two potential ZBP-89/SP1 binding sites in the gastrin promoter that contained gastrin promoter sequences from 47 to 74 (5GATCAGGGTAGGGGCGGGGTGGGGGGACAGTT) and from 120 to 153 (5GATCGACACTAAATGAAAGGGCGGGGCAGGGTGATGGG) were constructed and labeled with [
-32P]dCTP by using the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase I (New England Biolabs). Oligonucleotides containing the ZBP-89/SP1 binding site in oriLyt that spanned genomic EBV sequences from 53517 to 53570 (5GATCTGGCCTGTGCCTTGTCCCGTGGACAATGTCCCTCCAGCGTGGTGGCTGCC) were constructed. Binding reaction mixtures contained 5 to 10 µg of nuclear extract and 20,000 cpm of radiolabeled oligonucleotide in 10 mM Tris (pH 8.0), 100 mM KCl, 5 mM MgCl2, 0.5 mM EDTA, 1 mM DTT, 1 mM ZnSO4, 10% glycerol, and 1 µg of dI-dC. Binding reactions were performed at room temperature for 30 min. For antibody supershift experiments, 0.2 µg of antibody was incubated with whole-cell extract for 30 min prior to the addition of radiolabeled probe. The antibodies used were mouse MOPC 21 immunoglobulin G (Sigma), mouse M2 anti-Flag (Sigma), mouse anti-human Sp1 (Santa Cruz), and mouse anti-human Sp3 (Santa Cruz). Binding reaction mixtures were electrophoresed in 5% nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels containing 0.5x Tris-borate-EDTA buffer and 5% glycerol. Gels were dried, and protein-DNA complexes were visualized by autoradiography.
RT-PCR. Total RNA was isolated from NPC-KT cells treated with or without iododeoxyuridine (75 µg/ml) for 48 h (to induce expression of lytic EBV genes, including the BMRF1 gene), from AGS cells, and from TIK cells transfected with the SG5 or SG5-BMRF1 expression plasmids. Gastrin mRNA expression was quantified by RT-PCR as previously described, using 35 cycles (12). The gastrin primers (5ATGCAGCGACTATGTGTGTGTATGT for the forward primer and 5TTCTCATCCTCAGCACTGCGGCGGC for the reverse primer) produced a 383-bp product corresponding to exons 2 and 3. Primers for ß2-microglobin were 5TTCTGGCCTGGAGGGCATCC (forward) and 5ATCTTCAAACCTCCATGATG (reverse).
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To confirm that BMRF1 activates gastrin expression, we performed Northern blot analysis of RNA from TIK cells that were mock infected or infected with the AdLacZ or AdBMRF1 vector. RNA from AGS gastric carcinoma cells served as a positive control for gastrin expression. Compared to the mock-infected and AdLacZ-infected cells, TIK cells infected with the AdBMRF1 vector had a dramatically increased level of gastrin expression (Fig. 1a). In addition, RT-PCR analysis confirmed that TIK cells transfected with a BMRF1 expression plasmid had considerably more gastrin expression than cells transfected with the SG5 vector control (Fig. 1b). However, BMRF1 did not activate gastrin expression in AGS cells (data not shown), possibly because gastrin is already highly expressed in these cells. These results indicate that BMRF1 activates gastrin gene expression in TIK cells and that this effect is not dependent upon the adenovirus vector.
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FIG. 1. BMRF1 activates gastrin transcription in TIK cells. (a) TIK cells were mock infected or infected with adenovirus vectors expressing LacZ or BMRF1. Cellular RNA was harvested 2 days later and analyzed by Northern blot analysis for expression of gastrin or GAPDH. AGS gastrin carcinoma cells served as a positive control for gastrin transcription. (b) TIK cells were transfected with SG5 vector DNA or the SG5-BMRF1 expression plasmid. RNA was harvested 2 days later, and gastrin RNA expression was examined by RT-PCR with gastrin-specific primers. Untransfected AGS cells served as a positive control for gastrin expression.
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FIG. 2. BMRF1 activates the gastrin promoter. A construct containing the gastrin promoter driving the luciferase gene was cotransfected with either SG5 vector DNA or the SG5-BMRF1 expression vector into four different cell types (AGS gastric carcinoma cells, DG75 B cells, HeLa cervical carcinoma cells, and Raji Burkitt lymphoma cells). The amount of luciferase activity produced by each condition is indicated. Data are means ± standard errors.
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FIG. 3. BMRF1 residues 379 to 383 are required for activation of the gastrin promoter. (a) The gastrin promoter-luciferase construct was cotransfected into AGS cells or HeLa cells with SG5 vector DNA, wild-type BMRF1, BMRF1 with an in frame deletion from residues 316 to 378, or BMRF1 with an in-frame deletion from residues 379 to 383. The increase in luciferase activity (in comparison to the SG5 vector) produced by the wild-type versus mutant BMRF1 proteins is shown. Data are means ± standard errors. (b) Immunoblot of transfected wild-type BMRF1, BMRF1 with an in-frame deletion from residues 316 to 378, or BMRF1 with an in-frame deletion from residues 379 to 383.
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FIG. 4. BMRF1 activation of the gastrin promoter is mediated through two SP1 binding sites. (a) Site-directed mutations altering sequences in the gastrin promoter containing a potential AP2 site, an upstream SP1 site, a downstream SP1/ZBP-89 site, or the combination of both SP1 sites were constructed as shown. (b) The wild-type and mutant gastrin promoter constructs were cotransfected into AGS cells with SG5 vector DNA or the SG5-BMRF1 expression vector, and the amount of luciferase activity was determined. The activation in luciferase activity induced by BMRF1 (relative to the SG5 vector) for the wild-type versus mutant gastrin promoter constructs is shown. Data are means ± standard errors.
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FIG. 5. ZBP-89 binds to both GC-rich motifs in the gastrin promoter. EMSA was performed with in vitro-translated ZBP-89 (or unprogrammed reticulocyte lysate) and radiolabeled oligonucleotide probes containing the regions of the gastrin promoter indicated or a strong ZBP-89 binding site in EBV oriLyt.
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FIG. 6. BMRF1 enhances binding of ZBP-89 to the gastrin promoter. (a) DG75 cells were transfected with SG5 vector alone, SG5-BMRF1 expression vector, a Flag-tagged ZBP-89 expression vector, or the combination of the ZBP-89 vector and SG5-BMRF1. Extracts were prepared 2 days after transfection and used in EMSAs with a radioactively labeled probe containing gastrin promoter sequences from 47 to 74. Antibodies directed against SP1 and SP3 were added in some conditions to determine the positions of the SP1 and SP3 complexes. Binding of the transfected Flag-tagged ZBP-89 protein was visualized by using an anti-Flag antibody. (b) Immunoblot analysis of the transfected DG75 cell extracts used in the EMSA (a) was performed by using the anti-Flag antibody to compare the levels of ZBP-89 Flag protein in the presence and absence of cotransfected SG5-BMRF1.
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FIG. 7. BMRF1 enhances the transcriptional function of ZBP-89-GAL4 and SP1-GAL4 fusion proteins. A construct containing the CAT gene driven by a minimal E1b promoter and 5 upstream GAL4 binding sites was cotransfected with vectors expressing the GAL4 DNA binding domain alone or fusion proteins containing the GAL4 DNA binding domain linked in-frame to SP1 or ZBP-89 in the presence or absence of BMRF1. Results are normalized to compare the fold increase in CAT activity produced by cotransfection with BMRF1 versus the SG5 expression vector for each GAL4 construct.Experiments were performed with three different cell types: HeLa cells (a), AGS cells (b), and DG75 cells (c).
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FIG. 8. BMRF1 residues 379 to 383 are required for ZBP-89-GAL4 activation. AGS cells were cotransfected with a vector containing the CAT gene driven by a minimal E1b promoter and five upstream GAL4 binding sites, ZBP-89-GAL4 or SP1-GAL4 constructs and the SG5 expression vector, the wild-type SG5-BMRF1 construct, or a mutant SG5-BMRF1 construct containing a deletion in BMRF1 residues 379 to 383 were used. BMRF1-induced activation of CAT activity (relative to that with SG5 alone) is shown.
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FIG. 9. Induction of lytic EBV gene expression in NPC-KT cells results in gastrin expression. Latently infected, EBV-positive NPC-KT cells were switched to the lytic form of EBV infection by treating the cells with iododeoxyuridine (IUDR; 75 µg/ml) for 48 h as previously described (62). RT-PCR analysis was performed to quantitate the level of gastrin RNA expression and ß2-microglobin expression. Two different dilutions of cDNA were used in the RT-PCRs for ß2-microglobin to ensure that the reaction was in the linear range. No product of the expected size for gastrin was observed in the absence of RT (data not shown). AGS cells were used as a positive control for gastrin gene expression.
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The finding that BMRF1 activates gastrin gene transcription in TIK cells was unexpected, given that gastrin transcription is normally limited to specialized cells in the stomach (G cells). The ability of the BMRF1 adenovirus vector to activate gastrin transcription, which was initially suggested by microarray analysis, was subsequently confirmed by Northern blot analysis. Transfection of a BMRF1 expression plasmid into TIK cells also activated gastrin gene expression, indicating that adenovirus-encoded proteins are not required for this effect. BMRF1 also robustly activated the gastrin promoter in reporter gene assays.
Nevertheless, we have as yet been unable to demonstrate that BMRF1 induces gastrin protein expression in TIK cells (data not shown). This negative result may reflect the fact that the gastrin gene product is extensively posttranslationally modified in G cells (21, 44, 48) to produce the various different forms of gastrin. The preprogastrin protein is converted to multiple different forms of gastrin, including progastrin, glycine-extended gastrin and amidated gastrins. We speculate that TIK cells are unable to convert the progastrin protein into the fully processed gastrin (carboxyamidated gastrin-17). Interestingly, the alternatively processed forms of gastrin, including progastrin and glycine-extended gastrin, are increasingly recognized as growth factors for gastrointestinal (GI) epithelial cells (44, 45, 49). Whether these alternatively processed forms of gastrin are induced by BMRF1 expression in nongastric cells types remains an important issue for future research.
The gastrin promoter is only the second promoter (in addition to the viral BHLF1 promoter) shown to be activated by BMRF1. The mechanisms by which BMRF1 activates the gastrin and BHLF1 promoters are likely to be similar. The BMRF1-responsive elements in both the BHLF1 and gastrin promoters contain binding sites for SP1 and ZBP-89. In addition, residues 379 to 383 in the BMRF1 protein are required for efficient activation of both promoters.
ZBP-89 (BFCOL1, BERF-1, ZNF 148) is a Kruppel-type zinc finger transcription factor. Given that only a few promoters have been previously been shown to be regulated by ZBP-89, it is striking that both of the BMRF1-responsive promoters contain ZBP-89 binding motifs. The consensus ZBP-89 binding site, GCCCCTCCXCC, is essentially always also bound by SP1 and SP3, although the reverse is not true. Interestingly, ZBP-89 can function as either a negative or positive regulator of transcription, depending upon the promoter and perhaps other factors as well (1, 2, 5, 20, 28, 29, 34, 36, 38, 57, 59, 61, 66). Negative regulation of promoters by ZBP-89 (including the gastrin promoter) in some cases may be due to the ability of ZBP-89 to compete with SP1 for binding to the same site (30, 34). However, ZBP-89 and SP1 can simultaneously bind to the BMRF1-responsive region of the BHLF1 promoter (3). ZBP-89 also interacts directly with SP1 and may inhibit its function through this mechanism (57). A basic domain in the amino terminus of ZBP-89 has been shown to function as a negative regulator of transcription when fused to the GAL4 DNA binding domain, whereas the carboxy terminus functions as positive regulator of transcription (37). While SP1 has been shown to be a positive regulator of both the BHLF1 and gastrin promoters (6, 16, 64), ZBP-89 by itself is a negative regulator of the gastrin promoter (29) as well as the BHLF1 promoter (unpublished data). Thus, in the absence of BMRF1, the relative amount of SP1 versus ZBP-89 binding to the BHLF1 and gastrin promoters probably serves to regulate the activity of these promoters.
EMSAs indicated that BMRF1 expression in cells enhances the binding of ZBP-89 to the gastrin promoter without significantly affecting the binding of SP1 or SP3. The ability of BMRF1 to enhance binding of a negative regulator (ZBP-89) to the gastrin promoter yet activate gastrin promoter activity was initially paradoxical. However, the finding that BMRF1 converts the ZBP-89-GAL4 fusion protein into a positive regulator of transcription explains this paradox. To our knowledge, BMRF1 is the first protein shown to specifically enhance ZBP-89 transcriptional activity. As yet, the precise mechanism for this effect remains unknown. BMRF1 itself is not known to contain a transactivator domain, and a BMRF1-GAL4 fusion protein does not activate transcription when bound to GAL4 binding sites (4). Given the previously reported direct interaction between BMRF1 and ZBP-89, it is possible that BMRF1 promotes a posttranslational modification of ZBP-89, such as phosphorylation or acetylation, which enhances both its DNA binding and transcriptional function. Using EMSAs, we have been unable to show that BMRF1 is tethered to ZBP-89 binding sites, although it is possible that the BMRF1/ZBP-89 interaction is disrupted by EMSA conditions.
We also demonstrate in this paper that BMRF1 activates the transcriptional function of an SP1-GAL4 protein, although in contrast to its effect on ZBP-89, BMRF1 does not significantly increase SP1/SP3 binding activity. Our results also indicate that in some cell types, such as HeLa cells, the effect of BMRF1 on SP1 transcriptional function is greater than its effect on ZBP transcriptional function. As is the case for the BMRF1/ZBP-89 interaction, the precise mechanism for the effect of BMRF1 on SP1 transcriptional function is not yet specifically defined. The BMRF1 and SP1 proteins have been previously shown to directly interact, but we have been unable to detect a BMRF1/SP1 or BMRF1/SP3 complex binding to the gastrin promoter using EMSAs (unpublished data). It is possible that the BMRF1/SP1 complex binds to DNA in vivo but cannot survive the EMSA conditions. Alternatively, BMRF1 may promote a posttranslational modification of SP1 that enhances its transcriptional function.
In this paper, we have shown that the EBV early protein BMRF1 activates both the DNA binding activity and the transcriptional function of the ZBP-89 cellular transcription factor. We have found that, similar to its effects on ZBP-89 binding to the gastrin promoter, BMRF1 also increases the binding of ZBP-89 to oriLyt (W. T. Seaman and S. C. Kenney, unpublished data). Given that the ZBP-89 binding site in the EBV oriLyt is required for oriLyt replication (3), and transfected ZBP-89 enhances replication of an oriLyt-containing plasmid (3), our results suggest that the ability of BMRF1 to activate both ZBP-89 binding activity and its transcriptional activity may play an important role in promoting EBV lytic replication.
An important issue that remains unanswered is whether the ability of BMRF1 to activate gastrin gene transcription also plays a role in viral pathogenesis and/or EBV-associated gastric cancer. It has recently been reported that small EBV-encoded RNAs expressed during the latent form of EBV infection induce expression of insulin-like growth factor 1 in gastric cells, and that this EBV-induced release of insulin-like growth factor 1 may promote gastric tumor formation through a paracrine mechanism (19). Our results suggest that BMRF1-mediated activation of gastrin could cooperate with the role of the EBV-encoded RNAs in promoting gastric cancer through a paracrine mechanism. The various forms of gastrin are increasingly recognized as important growth factors for GI epithelium (8, 9, 21, 41, 45, 47, 55, 58), and there is growing evidence linking increased gastrin expression to various GI malignancies, including gastric cancer and colon cancer (17, 46). Chronic overproduction of gastrin may play a role in Helicobacter pylori-associated gastric cancer, as well as mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas (25-27, 35, 54). Although we were unable to document that BMRF1 induces expression of fully processed gastrin (carboxyamidated gastrin-17) in TIK cells, we speculate that BMRF1 expression in primary gastric cells capable of properly processing the preprogastrin protein into its various active forms would result in enhanced release of gastrin and gastrin-related peptides. Thus, BMRF1 expression in a small number of lytically infected cells in the stomach could result in potential growth-promoting effects on neighboring gastric cells and play an early role in the promotion of gastric cancer. The lytic form of EBV infection has been documented in some EBV-positive gastric carcinomas (18, 32). There is also evidence that the EBV genome may be present in the gastric epithelium of some patients with gastritis (60). Whether lytic EBV infection also occurs in normal stomach tissue and, if so, which of the various gastric cells types support this type of infection remain important and unanswered questions.
We thank the UNC Gene Therapy Core for preparing the adenovirus vectors and Amy Mauser for performing the microarray experiment.
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