The adenovirus E1B 19-kilodalton protein stimulates gene expression by increasing DNA levels

Herrmann, C. H., Mathews, M. B. (December 1989) The adenovirus E1B 19-kilodalton protein stimulates gene expression by increasing DNA levels. Molecular & Cellular Biology, 9 (12). pp. 5412-23. ISSN 0270-7306

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2531284
DOI: 10.1128/MCB.9.12.5412

Abstract

In transient expression assays, the adenovirus E1B 19-kilodalton (19K) tumor antigen increases expression from viral promoters and the promoter for the cellular 70-kilodalton heat shock protein (hsp70). To study the mechanism of this effect, we constructed HeLa cell lines that contain stably integrated copies of the 19K gene. Compared with a 19K- control cell line, 19K+ cells produced a significantly higher level of expression from every promoter introduced into the cells by transfection. The 19K protein also increased expression of an RNA polymerase III-transcribed gene but did not affect the level of expression of the endogenous hsp70 gene. The rate of transcription from transfected promoters, as measured by a nuclear run-on assay, was higher in the 19K+ cells than in the 19K- control cells. Furthermore, the level of plasmid DNA remained higher in the 19K+ cell line, suggesting that the 19K protein stabilizes transfected plasmid DNA. The elevated DNA levels seemed to account in full for the increased transcription. The role of the 19K protein in increasing gene expression during viral infection was found to be due to a replication-dependent increase in viral DNA levels. Thus, the 19K protein activates transcription indirectly by producing a higher level of viral or plasmid DNA. The DNA stabilization function of the 19K protein is probably related to the protective role of the 19K protein during viral infection and represents the first example of a viral oncogene product that modulates gene expression by regulating viral and plasmid DNA levels.

Item Type: Paper
Uncontrolled Keywords: Adenovirus Early Proteins Adenoviruses, Human/*genetics Cell Line *Cell Transformation, Viral Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase/genetics/metabolism DNA, Neoplasm/*biosynthesis/genetics/isolation & purification DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism *Gene Expression *Genes, Structural Genetic Complementation Test Heat-Shock Proteins/*genetics Hela Cells/metabolism Humans Molecular Weight Mutation Oncogene Proteins, Viral/genetics/*metabolism Plasmids Promoter Regions (Genetics) Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. Transfection
Subjects: organism description > virus > adenovirus
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > genes, structure and function > gene expression
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs
Depositing User: Gail Sherman
Date: December 1989
Date Deposited: 28 Jun 2017 15:30
Last Modified: 28 Jun 2017 15:30
PMCID: PMC363709
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/34861

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