Cooperative DNA binding of the bovine papillomavirus E2 transcriptional activator is antagonized by truncated E2 polypeptides

The papillomavirus E2 proteins

The papillomavirus E2 proteins are pivotal to the viral life cycle and have well characterized functions in transcriptional regulation, initiation of DNA replication and partitioning the viral genome. The E2 proteins also function in vegetative DNA replication, post-transcriptional processes and possibly packaging. This review describes structural and functional aspects of the E2 proteins and their binding sites on the viral genome. It is intended to be a reference guide to this viral protein.

The E8 repression domain can replace the E2 transactivation domain for growth inhibition of HeLa cells by papillomavirus E2 proteins

Continuous expression of the human papillomavirus (HPV) oncoproteins E6 and E7 is required for the growth of cervical cancer cell lines. So far, only the overexpression of the wild type papillomavirus E2 protein has been shown to induce growth arrest in HPV18-positive HeLa cells by repressing E6/E7 transcription. Growth arrest by E2 requires the aminoterminal transcription activation domain in addition to the carboxyterminal DNA-binding domain. Several papillomaviruses such as the carcinogenic HPV31 express in addition to E2 an E8(wedge)E2C fusion protein in which the E8 domain, which is required for repression of replication and transcription, replaces the E2 activation domain. In this report, we demonstrate that the HPV31 E8(wedge)E2C protein is able to inhibit the growth of HeLa cells but not of HPV-negative C33A cervical cancer cells. Growth repression by E8(wedge)E2C correlates with repression of the endogenous HPV18 E6/E7 promoter and the reappearance of E6- and E7-regulated p53, pRb and p21 proteins, suggesting that E8(wedge)E2C inhibits growth by reactivating dormant tumor suppressor pathways. Growth inhibition requires an intact E8 repression domain in addition to the carboxyterminal E2C DNA binding domain. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments suggest that the E8 repression domain enhances binding to the HPV18 promoter sequence in vivo. In summary, our results demonstrate that the small E8 repression domain can functionally replace the large E2 transactivation domain for growth inhibition of HeLa cervical cancer cells.

Analysis of chromatin attachment and partitioning functions of bovine papillomavirus type 1 E2 protein

Recent studies have suggested that the tethering of viral genomes to host cell chromosomes could provide one of the ways to achieve their nuclear retention and partitioning during extrachromosomal maintenance in dividing cells. The data we present here provide firm evidence that the partitioning of the bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BPV1) genome is dependent on the chromatin attachment process mediated by viral E2 protein and its multiple binding sites. On the other hand, the attachment of E2 and the E2-mediated tethering of reporter plasmids to host chromosomes are not necessarily sufficient for efficient partitioning, suggesting that additional E2-dependent activities might be involved in the latter process. The activity of E2 protein in chromatin attachment and partitioning is more sensitive to the point mutations in the N-terminal domain than its transactivation and replication initiation functions. Therefore, at least part of the interactions of the E2 N-terminal domain with its targets during the chromatin attachment and partitioning processes are likely to involve specific receptors not involved in transactivation and replication activities of the protein. The mutational analysis also indicates that the binding of E2 to chromatin is not achieved through interaction of linear N-terminal subsequences of the E2 protein with putative receptors. Instead, the composite surface elements of the N-terminal domain build up the receptor-binding surface of E2. In this regard, the interaction of BPV1 E2 with its chromosomal targets clearly differs from the interactions of LANA1 protein from Kaposi's sarcoma-associated human herpesvirus and EBNA1 from Epstein-Barr virus with their specific receptors.

E2 represses the late gene promoter of human papillomavirus type 8 at high concentrations by interfering with cellular factors

The late gene promoter P7535 of the epidermodysplasia verruciformis-associated human papillomavirus type 8 (HPV8) is regulated by the viral E2 protein. Transfection experiments performed with the human skin keratinocyte cell line RTS3b and P7535 reporter plasmids revealed transactivation at low amounts and a repression of basal promoter activity at high amounts of E2 expression vector. This repression was promoter specific and correlated with the amount of transiently expressed E2 protein. Mutational analyses revealed that the negative regulation of P7535 activity is mediated by the low-affinity E2 binding site P2, which is separated by one nucleotide from the P7535 TATA box. Biochemical and genetic analyses suggested that repression is due to a displacement of the TATA-box binding protein by E2 and an interference of E2 with promoter-activating cellular factors that specifically recognize the P2 sequence. The high conservation of the P2 sequence among several papillomaviruses (epidermodysplasia verruciformis-associated HPVs, HPV1, cottontail rabbit papillomavirus, and bovine papillomavirus type 1) in the vicinity of the late gene promoter cap site suggests that an interplay of E2 and cellular factors at this sequence element is important for the expression of structural proteins.

The human papillomavirus type 16 E2 transcription factor binds with low cooperativity to two flanking sites and represses the E6 promoter through displacement of Sp1 and TFIID

The E6 promoters of all genital human papillomaviruses have a characteristic alignment of transcription factor binding sites. Activation of the basic transcription complex at the TATA box depends upon a sequence-aberrant Sp1 site. Repression of E6 promoters is achieved by two binding sites for the viral E2 protein positioned between the Sp1 site and the TATA box. We have purified the human papillomavirus type 16 E2 protein after expression in Escherichia coli and studied its binding and repression properties with oligonucleotides representing the homologous promoter sequences. A Kd value of 3 x 10(-10) M indicated binding properties expected for a native protein. We found low cooperativity in the binding of two E2 dimers to flanking sites, both when these sites were separated by 3 nucleotides, as in the natural promoter, and when they were further apart. E2 protein, bound close to the distal Sp1 site, displaced the Sp1 factor even when the aberrant sequence was replaced by a typical Sp1 core recognition site. The high affinity of E2 protein for its binding site even led to Sp1 displacement at concentrations of E2 protein nearly 2 orders of magnitude lower than those of Sp1. Functional analyses of mutated E6 promoter sequences showed repression by this distal E2 binding site in the complete absence of binding to the proximal E2 binding site. From our findings and observations published by others, we conclude that each of the E2 binding sites in the E6 promoter of genital human papillomaviruses plays a separate role by displacing the transcription factors Sp1 and TFIID.