title: The bfl-1 gene is transcriptionally upregulated by the Epstein-Barr virus LMP1, and its expression promotes the survival of a Burkitt's lymphoma cell line.
abstract: The recently identified bfl-1 gene (also known as A1 or GRS), a homologue of bcl-2, encodes an antiapoptotic protein that suppresses apoptosis induced by the p53 tumor suppressor protein and exhibits proliferative and potent cooperative transforming activities. We show that elevated levels of bfl-1 mRNA are a feature of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-immortalized B-cell lines and Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines expressing the full spectrum of EBV latent proteins. Using an EBV-negative Burkitt's lymphoma cell line in which the expression of EBV latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is inducibly regulated by tetracycline, we demonstrate that LMP1 expression coincides with a dramatic increase in the level of bfl-1 mRNA. Also in this system, an increase in the level of Bcl-2 protein was seen to occur earlier than that of bcl-2 mRNA, suggesting that both transcriptional and translational mechanisms are involved in the control of Bcl-2 expression by LMP-1. We show that elevated bfl-1 mRNA stability can contribute to this effect of LMP-1, thus providing evidence of a novel mechanism of gene regulation by this EBV protein. Upregulation of bfl-1 by LMP1 was not observed in the T-cell line Jurkat or the epithelial cell line C33A. Ectopic expression of Bfl-1 in an EBV-positive cell line exhibiting a latency type I infection protects against apoptosis induced by growth factor deprivation, thereby providing a functional role for Bfl-1 in this cellular context and adding Bfl-1 to the list of antiapoptotic proteins whose expression is modulated by EBV. This is the first report of the regulation of bfl-1 expression by a viral protein, and this novel finding may thus represent an important link between the EBV oncoprotein LMP1 and its cellular growth-transforming properties.
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: D'Souza
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Walls
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015778:Minor Histocompatibility Antigens; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C096816:BCL2-related protein A1; C037662:EBV-associated membrane antigen, Epstein-Barr virus; D015778:Minor Histocompatibility Antigens; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral; D011506:Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins