title: Epstein-Barr virus EBNA-LP and transcription regulation properties of pRB, p107 and p53 in transfection assays.
abstract: The EBNA-LP protein (also known as EBNA-5) of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been reported previously to colocalize in the nuclei of cells with the pRb protein and to bind in vitro to pRb and to the p53 protein, suggesting a role for EBNA-LP in modulation of the function of these proteins. Here we test in transfection assays whether EBNA-LP expression has any functional consequence for repression of E2F-1 activity by pRb or p107 or for activation of transcription by the p53 protein. No significant effect could be found, although the assay systems were sensitive to the established effects of simian virus 40 large T antigen and human papillo-mavirus type 16 E6 protein. There was very effective repression of GAL4/E2F-1 transactivation by p107, consistent with earlier reports and indicating that p107 can interact with the E2F-1 transactivation domain, even though p107 has been reported to bind specifically to E2F complexes containing E2F-4. The results indicate that, if the associations of EBNA-LP with pRB and p53 are physiologically relevant, they most likely affect other functions of these proteins or modulate their gene regulatory functions in ways that cannot be detected by transfection into cycling transformed cells.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, St Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, UK.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Inman
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Farrell
mesh_terms: D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D002460:Cell Line; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D050684:E2F Transcription Factors; D050687:E2F1 Transcription Factor; D050704:E2F4 Transcription Factor; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016160:Retinoblastoma Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D056465:Retinoblastoma-Binding Protein 1; D050720:Retinoblastoma-Like Protein p107; D050680:Transcription Factor DP1; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014162:Transfection; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D050684:E2F Transcription Factors; D050687:E2F1 Transcription Factor; C493753:E2F1 protein, human; D050704:E2F4 Transcription Factor; C493762:E2F4 protein, human; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C493844:RBL1 protein, human; D016160:Retinoblastoma Protein; D056465:Retinoblastoma-Binding Protein 1; D050720:Retinoblastoma-Like Protein p107; D050680:Transcription Factor DP1; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53