title: Mutational analysis of human T-cell leukemia virus type 2 Tax.
abstract: A mutational analysis of human T-cell leukemia virus type 2 (HTLV-2) Tax (Tax-2) was performed to identify regions within Tax-2 important for activation of promoters through the CREB/ATF or NF-kappaB/Rel signaling pathway. Tax-2 mutations within the putative zinc-binding region as well as mutations at the carboxy terminus disrupted CREB/ATF transactivation. A single mutation within the central proline-rich region of Tax-2 disrupted the transactivation of the NF-kappaB/Rel pathway. Surprisingly, this mutation, which is thought to be in a separate activation domain, was suppressed by mutations within or around the putative zinc-binding region, suggesting an interaction between these two regions. These analyses indicate that the functional regions or domains important for transactivation through the CREB/ATF or NF-kappaB/Rel signaling pathway are similar, but not identical, in Tax-1 and Tax-2. Identification of these distinct Tax-2 mutants should facilitate comparative biological studies of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 and ultimately lead to the determination of the functional importance of Tax trans-acting capacities in T-lymphocyte transformation by HTLV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-2363, USA.
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Minella
authors.forename: Z Y
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Pettiford
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019556:COS Cells; D002451:Cell Compartmentation; D002460:Cell Line; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D016356:Gene Products, tax / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005814:Genes, Viral; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016328:NF-kappa B; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D016356:Gene Products, tax; D016328:NF-kappa B; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins