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Journal of Virology, June 2008, p. 5962-5966, Vol. 82, No. 12
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.02747-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Transformation by Bovine Papillomavirus Type 1 E6 Requires Paxillin
Ramon Wade,
Nicole Brimer, and
Scott Vande Pol*
Department of Pathology, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800904, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908-0904
Received 27 December 2007/
Accepted 26 March 2008

ABSTRACT
Papillomavirus E6 proteins are adapters that change the function
of cellular regulatory proteins. The bovine papillomavirus type
1 E6 (BE6) binds to LXXLL peptide sequences termed LD motifs
(consensus sequence LDXLLXXL) on the cellular protein paxillin
that is a substrate of Src and focal adhesion kinases. Anchorage-independent
transformation induced by BE6 required both paxillin and BE6-binding
LD motifs on paxillin but was independent of the major tyrosine
phosphorylation sites of paxillin. The essential role of paxillin
in transformation by BE6 highlights the role of paxillin in
the transduction of cellular signals that result in anchorage-independent
cell proliferation.

INTRODUCTION
Anogenital type human papillomavirus (HPV) E6 oncoproteins and
E6 from bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BE6) interact with cellular
proteins by binding to an eight-amino-acid peptide displayed
on the target protein (XLXXLLXX, abbreviated LXXLL here) (
3,
7,
10,
30); this interaction is required for cellular transformation
by BE6 (
1,
30). While anogenital HPV E6 proteins bind to a LXXLL
motif on the ubiquitin ligase E6AP, BE6 binds to LXXLL motifs
found on the cellular adapter protein paxillin, while HPV-16
E6 binds paxillin poorly (
26,
30).
Paxillin was first identified as a hyperphosphorylated protein in Src transformed cells. It localizes to focal adhesions and associates with focal adhesion proteins implicated in the regulation of cell attachment, spreading, and migration, including focal adhesion kinase (FAK), GIT1, PAK, Src, and Crk (reviewed in reference 6 and illustrated in Fig. 1). Paxillin tyrosine phosphorylation sites bind to the SH2-containing proteins Src (at Y31) and CRKL (at Y118). Paxillin also contains five copies of a peptide motif termed LD1 through LD5 (consensus LXXLLXXL) that serve as binding sites for cellular proteins; LD1 interacts with acropaxin and ILK (16, 17), LD2 interacts with FAK and vinculin, LD4 interacts with GIT1 and FAK (29), and the LD3 and LD5 interaction partners remain uncharacterized, although LD5 is functionally required to support FAK tyrosine phosphorylation in embryonic stem (ES) cells (32). LD motifs also bind the BE6 oncoprotein (26, 30). The carboxy terminus of paxillin contains four LIM domains: LIM2 and -3 localize paxillin to focal adhesions (5, 32), and LIM1, -2, and -3 support the tyrosine phosphorylation of FAK in ES cells (32). LIM4 interacts with the tyrosine phosphatase PTP-PEST (8, 21).
Paxillin regulates focal adhesion turnover, since cells from
which paxillin has been deleted or that express paxillin mutants
have delayed focal adhesion turnover and cell migration (
33,
34), and paxillin has been shown to influence the activity of
proteins, including the Rho family of small GTP-binding proteins
that are involved in regulating actin dynamics (reviewed in
references
19 and
35). HIC-5 is a paxillin family member that
is highly similar to paxillin but differs in its binding to
FAK and GIT proteins and is differentially expressed in differentiated
tissues and in response to morphogenic signaling (
14,
25,
28).
HIC-5 is expressed in paxillin-null mouse embryonic fibroblasts
(MEFs) (
12,
31).
Although the interaction of paxillin with BE6 correlates with transformation by BE6 and transforming BE6 mutants (9), it is unclear whether paxillin is essential for BE6 transformation. In the present study, we demonstrate through the use of paxillin-null mouse fibroblasts that both paxillin and BE6-binding sites on paxillin are required for the transformation by BE6.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Cells and tissue culture.
Murine C127 and paxillin-null MEFs were maintained in Dulbecco
modified Eagle medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum;
assays for anchorage-independent cell growth were performed
as previously described (
1).
Plasmids.
Glutathione S-transferase (GST) and maltose-binding protein (MBP) fusions to BE6 and paxillin and paxillin mutants have been previously described (30). MBP and GST fusions were expressed in Escherichia coli strain BL21(DE3)-RIL and purified onto amylose-Sepharose or glutathione-Sepharose beads as described previously (1).
Immunoprecipitations and Western blots.
A total of 5 x 107 cells per lane were lysed in NP-40 lysis buffer on ice (150 mM NaCl, 50 mM Tris [pH 7.5], 50 mM NaF, 5 mM sodium pyrophosphate, 1% NP-40, 0.01% phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 1 mM sodium vanadate, 1 µg of leupeptin-aprotinin/ml), clarified by centrifugation, equalized for protein content, immunoprecipitated with Flag (Sigma) or paxillin clone 349 monoclonal antibody (BD biosciences), and analyzed by Western blotting for BE6 and paxillin. To ascertain BE6 expression levels in transduced MEFs, 107 retrovirally transduced murine fibroblasts were lysed in 0.5 ml of 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), diluted 1:10 with NP-40 lysis buffer, and immunoprecipitated with 5 µl of rabbit anti-BE6 antisera. Immunoprecipitates were analyzed by Western blot and probed with rabbit anti-BE6 antibody.

RESULTS
BE6 association with paxillin was found through a yeast two-hybrid
screen and by association with transiently overexpressed and
epitope-tagged BE6 (
26,
30). Thus, the reported association
could represent an overexpression artifact. To determine whether
paxillin associates with native BE6 in stable expression conditions,
paxillin-null MEFs (
12) were stably transduced by native BE6
alone, Flag-tagged paxillin alone, or BE6 together with Flag-paxillin.
Precipitation of BE6 by Flag antibodies was only observed if
coexpressed with Flag-paxillin (Fig.
2A). In order to determine
whether BE6 was associated with endogenous paxillin under stable
expression conditions in transformed cells, murine C127 cells
or C127 cells transformed by BE6 were analyzed by immunoprecipitation
of endogenous paxillin and immunoblot analysis of BE6. BE6 was
immunoprecipitated by antibodies to paxillin but not isotype
control (EE) antibodies, was only observed in BE6 transduced
cells, and was independent of cell attachment (Fig.
2B).
In order to determine the LD motifs of paxillin or HIC-5 that
might bind BE6, each paxillin LD motif was expressed as a GST
fusion; BE6 bound to LD1, -2, and -4, whereas LD3 and LD5 interacted
poorly (Fig.
3A). In contrast to paxillin, BE6 only bound the
LD1 motif of HIC-5, since deletion of only HIC-5 LD1 eliminated
the interaction of HIC-5 containing the remaining LD motifs
with BE6 (Fig.
3B); the LD motifs of paxillin and HIC-5 are
similar but not identical (
4,
25).
To determine whether paxillin is required for transformation
by BE6, drug-selected cells were suspended in agarose and photographed
for the formation of anchorage independent colonies. Only cells
transduced with both BE6 and paxillin could form anchorage-independent
colonies (Fig.
4). Similar, although less-efficient, transformation
results were obtained with paxillin-null T17 cells (
31; data
not shown). Although the paxillin-null MEFs express HIC-5, reexpression
of paxillin was required for colony formation.
Paxillin mutants were constructed to analyze their ability to
support BE6 transformation. Paxillin mutants were constructed
that deleted all of the BE6 binding motifs (PXN-

LD1,2,4), all
of the LIM domains (PXN 1-341), the amino-terminal tyrosine
phosphorylation sites at amino acids 31 and 118 (PXN-46 kDa),
only LIM domain 4 (required for association with PTP-PEST that
is implicated in the activation of Src family members), or only
LIM domain 1 (required to support the tyrosine phosphorylation
of FAK in ES cells (
32) (Fig.
1). Each of these mutants was
expressed together with BE6 when transduced in paxillin-null
MEFs (Fig.
5). The 46-kDa paxillin molecule has been proposed
to be produced by either internal translation initiation or
by proteolytic cleavage of full-length paxillin (
22,
27); the
46-kDa form is deleted of LD1 and the major tyrosine phosphorylation
sites at amino acids 31, 33, 40, and 118 that are binding sites
for c-
src and Crk family proteins, as well as serine phosphorylation
sites implicated in the regulation of migration in response
to HGF (
13). In paxillin
–/– MEFs, the great majority
of reexpressed wild-type paxillin is processed from the full-length
68-kDa form to the cleaved 46-kDa form; interestingly, an amino-terminal
Flag epitope blocks this cleavage from occurring (Fig.
5). The
processing of paxillin to the 46-kDa form is independent of
BE6 expression (data not shown). Although Flag-paxillin was
less efficient at supporting BE6 transformation than native
paxillin, Flag-paxillin

LD1,2,4 did not induce any anchorage-independent
colony formation alone or in combination with BE6 (Table
1).
The 46-kDa paxillin fully supported BE6 transformation (Table
1).
Paxillin is required to support the tyrosine phosphorylation
of FAK in ES cells (
32). In that study, LIM domains 1 to 3 were
each required, whereas LIM4 is dispensable. Paxillin molecules
deleted of either all of the LIM domains (paxillin 1-341) or
containing in-frame deletions of LIM domains 1 and 4 were not
able to support anchorage-independent growth induced by BE6
(Table
1). Each of the paxillin mutants shown in Table
1 was
expressed, as was BE6, in these cells (Fig.
5).

DISCUSSION
Normal keratinocytes require both soluble growth factors and
contact with an extracellular-matrix-coated surface for cell
proliferation. In the papillomavirus life cycle, virus-infected
cells in the spinous layer that no longer contact matrix aberrantly
reenter the cell cycle in order to amplify viral DNA from the
low copies found in basal keratinocyte to high copies for the
production of virus. In HPVs, this is accomplished through the
interaction of the E7 oncoprotein with members of the retinoblastoma
family of proteins. Unlike other papillomaviruses, papovaviruses,
or adenoviruses, a strong direct interaction between BPV-1 oncoproteins
and retinoblastoma family members has not yet been demonstrated.
Therefore, it is likely that BPV-1 oncoproteins manipulate signal
transduction in order to modify retinoblastoma family proteins
and allow for S-phase reentry in spinous epithelial cells that
have lost contact with the matrix-rich basement membrane.
We have used the ability of BE6 to induce anchorage-independent cell proliferation as an initial model to study the role of BE6 in this process. The mechanism by which BE6 interaction with paxillin allows for anchorage-independent cell growth is as yet unclear, but a critical analysis of the differences between paxillin (which supports BE6 transformation) and HIC-5 (which is expressed in MEFs but does not support transformation) should be informative.
The 46-kDa paxillin is deleted of major tyrosine phosphorylation sites and Crk-family binding sites at the amino terminus of paxillin (one of the differences between paxillin and HIC-5 [25]), indicating that these binding sites are dispensable for BE6 transformation. Although the BE6-binding LD motifs 2 and 4 of paxillin are required, it is possible, but not proven, that BE6 transforms through competitive interactions between cellular proteins and BE6 for these particular LD motifs. It is significant that paxillin deleted of the BE6 binding motifs does not induce transformation in the absence of BE6 (paxillin
LD1,2,4; Table 1), arguing against a simple competitive binding model. Alternatively, it may be that BE6 interaction with paxillin results in a gain of function for the complex that results in transformation, so it is possible that BE6 transformation requires both paxillin and an additional interaction partner(s). Indeed, the interaction of BE6 with paxillin is not sufficient for transformation since BE6 transforms murine C127 cells to anchorage independence but does not readily transform NIH 3T3 cells, despite the expression of paxillin in both cell types (20; S. Vande Pol, unpublished observations). Although it seems less likely, it is also possible that BE6 transformation does not require direct interaction with paxillin at all, but that paxillin could be an essential scaffolding molecule required to propagate a signal that originates from an interaction between BE6 and a different (nonpaxillin) cellular factor.
Attachment-independent signaling and cell cycle progression are a hallmark of malignant cells. It was first observed that primary cell cultures require attachment for cell proliferation, whereas virally transformed cells do not (15, 24), and that attachment-dependent but immortalized cells arrest in G1 upon suspension (18). A close correlation exists between attachment-independent cell proliferation and tumorigenicity in nude mice (11, 23). The association of viral oncoproteins with their cellular targets has provided critical clues for the identification of cellular proteins that regulate signal transduction and the cell cycle. The essential role of paxillin in transformation by BE6 should focus attention upon paxillin and its role in facilitating anchorage-independent cell proliferation, a hallmark of tumorigenicity.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by NIH grants CA-69292 and CA-120352
to S.V.P.
We thank Elliot Androphy, Jason Chen, and Janet Cross for critical reading of the manuscript.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathology, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800904, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0904. Phone: (434) 924-1603. Fax: (434) 924-2151. E-mail:
vandepol{at}virginia.edu 
Published ahead of print on 2 April 2008. 

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Journal of Virology, June 2008, p. 5962-5966, Vol. 82, No. 12
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.02747-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.