Sequences downstream of the RNA initiation site of the HTLV type I long terminal repeat are sufficient for trans-activation by human cytomegalovirus immediate-early proteins.
Human T cell leukemia virus type I infection is associated with a low incidence of morbidity in the form of adult T cell leukemia and neurologic disease, suggesting that there are other factors determining the pathogenic outcome of infection. We found that HCMV could infect various human cell lines known to be susceptible to HTLV-I infection, including T cell lines already harboring HTLV-I, and that HCMV infection could highly activate gene expression from the HTLV-I LTR. In addition, the coexpression of IE1 and IE2 genes of HCMV increased transcription from the HTLV-I LTR. The deletion analysis indicated that the entire U3 region is not required, but that the 216-bp region from +101 to +316 is sufficient for activation of the LTR by IE1 and IE2. These results suggest that HCMV IE proteins may affect the level of HTLV-I gene expression in coinfected individuals by interacting with HTLV-I LTR sequences.
Kim
J M
JM
Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Seoul National University, South Korea.
Hong
Y
Y
Kim
S
S
Cho
M H
MH
Yoshida
M
M
Jeang
K T
KT
Burns
W
W
Kim
S
S
D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D001665:Binding Sites; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral; D020079:Terminal Repeat Sequences; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D020298:U937 Cells; D014764:Viral Proteins
D000956:Antigens, Viral; C088645:IE1 protein, cytomegalovirus; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins; C044582:immediate-early proteins, cytomegalovirus