title: The Epstein-Barr virus replication protein BBLF2/3 provides an origin-tethering function through interaction with the zinc finger DNA binding protein ZBRK1 and the KAP-1 corepressor.
abstract: Herpesviruses encode a set of core proteins essential for lytic replication of their genomes. Three of these proteins form a tripartite helix-primase complex that, in the case of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), consists of the helicase BBLF4, the primase BSLF1, and the linker protein BBLF2/3. BBLF2/3 and its homologs in the other herpesviruses remain relatively poorly characterized. To better understand the contribution to replication made by BBLF2/3, a yeast two-hybrid screen was performed with BBLF2/3 as the bait protein. This screen identified as interactors a number of cell replication-related proteins such as DNA polymerase beta and subunits of DNA polymerase delta along with the EBV-encoded DNase BGLF5. The screen also identified the DNA binding zinc finger protein ZBRK1 and the ZBRK1 corepressor KAP-1 as BBLF2/3 interactors. Interaction between BBLF2/3 and ZBRK1 and KAP-1 was confirmed in coimmunoprecipitation assays. A binding site for ZBRK1 in the EBV oriLyt enhancer was identified by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. ZBRK1, KAP-1, and the ZBRK1 binding protein BRCA1 were shown by indirect immunofluorescence to be present in replication compartments in lytically induced D98-HR1 cells, and additionally, chromatin immunoprecipitation assays determined that these proteins associated with oriLyt DNA. Replication of an oriLyt plasmid and a variant oriLyt (DeltaZBRK1) plasmid was examined in lytically induced D98-HR1 cells. Exogenous ZBRK1, KAP-1, or BRCA1 increased the efficiency of oriLyt replication, while deletion of the ZBRK1 binding site impaired replication. These experiments identify ZBRK1 as another cell protein that, through BBLF2/3, provides a tethering point on oriLyt for the EBV replication complex. The data also suggest that BBLF2/3 may serve as a contact interface for cell proteins involved in replication of EBV oriLyt.
authors.affiliation: Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, USA.
authors.forename: Gangling
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Elizabeth D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Fixman
authors.forename: S Diane
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Hayward
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002460:Cell Line; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D047369:Chromatin Immunoprecipitation; D004261:DNA Replication; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D006367:HeLa Cells; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D018741:Replication Origin / Q000502:physiology*; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000076183:Tripartite Motif-Containing Protein 28; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques; D014709:Vero Cells; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; C422407:ZNF350 protein, human; C101116:TRIM28 protein, human; D000076183:Tripartite Motif-Containing Protein 28