The LMP1 oncogene of EBV activates PERK and the unfolded protein response to drive its own synthesis.
The oncogene latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) without a ligand drives proliferation of EBV-infected B cells. Its levels vary in cells of clonal populations by more than 100-fold, which leads to multiple distinct activities of the oncogene. At intermediate levels it drives proliferation, and at high levels it inhibits general protein synthesis by inducing phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2alpha (eIF2alpha). We have found that LMP1 activates PERK to induce phosphorylation of eIF2alpha, which upregulates activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) expression. ATF4, in turn, transactivates LMP1's own promoter. LMP1 activates not only PERK but also inositol requiring kinase 1 (IRE1) and ATF6, 3 pathways of the unfolded protein response (UPR). Increasing expression levels of LMP1 induced a dose-dependent increase in IRE1 activity, as measured by its "splicing" of XBP-1. These infected B cells secrete immunoglobins independent of the levels of LMP1, indicating that only a threshold level of XBP-1 is required for the secretion. These findings indicate that LMP1's activation of the UPR is a normal event in a continuum of LMP1's expression that leads both to stimulatory and inhibitory functions and regulates the physiology of EBV-infected B cells in multiple, unexpected modes.
McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Dong Yun
DY
Lee
Bill
B
Sugden
D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000821:virology*; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma; D002455:Cell Division; D002460:Cell Line; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D015852:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney; D051379:Mice; D010766:Phosphorylation; D010957:Plasmids; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019892:eIF-2 Kinase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase; D015852:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2; D019098:Telomerase; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D019892:eIF-2 Kinase; C037662:EBV-associated membrane antigen, Epstein-Barr virus; C509186:TERT protein, human