title: Negative and positive factors determine the activity of the polyoma virus enhancer alpha domain in undifferentiated and differentiated cell types.
abstract: The host range of polyoma virus is dependent upon the activity of its enhancer, which is inactive in undifferentiated embryonal carcinoma cells, such as F9 cells, and is active after their differentiation. We show here that the activity of the alpha domain of the polyoma virus enhancer displays a similar cell-specificity and inducibility as does the whole enhancer. We present evidence to show that its activity is determined by the balance between the activities of two factors, PEA2, a labile repressor, and PEA1, an inducible positive factor that we have characterized previously. Changes in repressor activity help account for the increase in alpha-domain activity after differentiation of F9 cells. These results suggest that PEA2 is crucial in the regulation of viral gene expression and perhaps more generally in the control of gene expression during differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire des Eucaryotes, l'Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Medicale, Faculté de Médecine, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wasylyk
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Imler
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chatton
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schatz
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wasylyk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D003513:Cycloheximide / Q000494:pharmacology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011120:Polyomavirus / Q000235:genetics*; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate / Q000494:pharmacology; D050656:Transcription Factor AP-2; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D014162:Transfection; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun; D050656:Transcription Factor AP-2; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014212:Tretinoin; D003513:Cycloheximide; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate