title: The POU-domain factor Brn-3.0 recognizes characteristic sites in the herpes simplex virus genome.
abstract: The restriction of herpes virus latency to mammalian sensory ganglia has led to a search for tissue-specific regulatory molecules in these neurons which alter viral gene expression. We have recently shown that the POU-domain transcriptional regulator Brn-3.0 is abundantly expressed in the adult trigeminal ganglion. To begin to examine the hypothesis that Brn-3.0 might participate in the regulation of the HSV life-cycle, we used Brn-3.0 POU-domain protein as an affinity matrix, and biochemically screened the entire HSV genome for sites of Brn-3.0 binding. This screen identified several sites of the form TA/TA A T N A N TA/T, which significantly do not include the previously identified HSV octamer sequences. All of the selected sites occur in the <25% of the HSV genome which has not been assigned to open reading frames, suggesting that these sites may be transcriptional regulatory elements recognized by Brn-3.0 or another homeobox factor with similar DNA binding properties. However, these sites do not interact with Brn-3.0 with sufficiently high affinity to directly mediate transcriptional activation by Brn-3.0 alone in transfection assays. The experiments described also provide an effective general method for exhaustive screening of large viral genomes or sub-genomic fragments of eukaryotic DNA for sites of interaction with specific transcription factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0603, USA. eturner@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.forename: L T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Feldman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000235:genetics; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D050813:Octamer Transcription Factor-2; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000235:genetics*; D050818:Transcription Factor Brn-3; D050819:Transcription Factor Brn-3A; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D050813:Octamer Transcription Factor-2; C058435:POU2F2 protein, human; C489206:Pou2f2 protein, mouse; C494189:Pou4f1 protein, mouse; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D050818:Transcription Factor Brn-3; D050819:Transcription Factor Brn-3A; D014157:Transcription Factors; D005982:Glutathione Transferase