title: The cellular oncogene c-myb can interact synergistically with the Epstein-Barr virus BZLF1 transactivator in lymphoid cells.
abstract: Regulation of replicative functions in the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome is mediated through activation of a virally encoded transcription factor, Z (BZLF1). We have shown that the Z gene product, which binds to AP-1 sites as a homodimer and has sequence similarity to c-Fos, can efficiently activate the EBV early promoter, BMRF1, in certain cell types (i.e., HeLa cells) but not others (i.e., Jurkat cells). Here we demonstrate that the c-myb proto-oncogene product, which is itself a DNA-binding protein and transcriptional transactivator, can interact synergistically with Z in activating the BMRF1 promoter in Jurkat cells (a T-cell line) or Raji cells (an EBV-positive B-cell), whereas the c-myb gene product by itself has little effect. The simian virus 40 early promoter is also synergistically activated by the Z/c-myb combination. Synergistic transactivation of the BMRF1 promoter by the Z/c-myb combination appears to involve direct binding by the Z protein but not the c-myb protein. A 30-bp sequence in the BMRF1 promoter which contains a Z binding site (a consensus AP-1 site) is sufficient to transfer high-level lymphoid-specific responsiveness to the Z/c-myb combination to a heterologous promoter. That the c-myb oncogene product can interact synergistically with an EBV-encoded member of the leucine zipper protein family suggests c-myb is likely to engage in similar interactions with cellularly encoded transcription factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kenney
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Holley-Guthrie
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Quinlivan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gutsch
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bender
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Giot
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sergeant
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002460:Cell Line; D004247:DNA; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009857:Oncogenes; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020598:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myb; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014764:Viral Proteins
chemical_list: C063676:BZLF1 protein, Herpesvirus 4, Human; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D020598:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myb; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014764:Viral Proteins; D004247:DNA