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E J Androphy

Publications and source records attributed to E J Androphy.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

A novel method for selective isotope labeling of bacterially expressed proteins.

A novel method for isotope labeling in selected amino acids is presented for use with the T7 RNA polymerase system. The protocol is illustrated with the DNA-binding domain from the E2 protein of bovine papillomavirus, BPV-1. On addition of rifampicin, protein expression occurs exclusively from the gene controlled by the T7 promoter. Since the bacteria are now dedicated to the production of E2 protein, labeling with specific amino acids is efficiently performed. For example, 10 mg/l of 15N-labeled phenylalanine is shown to be sufficient for incorporation of the label, without scrambling, and without the use of an auxotrophic strain.

DNA-Binding Proteins↗

Isolation, sequence analysis and characterization of a cDNA encoding human chaperonin 10.

A full-length cDNA clone encoding chaperonin 10 (cpn10) from a HeLa cell cDNA library was isolated. The cDNA is 538 bp in length, contains an ATG codon and a putative polyadenylation signal, and specifies a protein of 102 amino acids. Immunoprecipitation experiment showed that this human cpn10 has an apparent molecular mass of 11 kDa in sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE).

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Specific inhibition of a human papillomavirus E2 trans-activator by intracellular delivery of its repressor.

Papillomaviruses are the causative agents of benign and malignant epithelial tumors of the skin and mucosa. They encode a DNA-binding protein, E2, that regulates viral transcription and replication, making it an important therapeutic target. By deleting the amino-terminal trans-activation domain of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) E2 while retaining its carboxy-terminal DNA binding and dimerization domain, an E2 repressor (E2R) that efficiently inhibits transcriptional activation by full-length HPV E2 was generated. To deliver this repressor protein into animal cells, we have utilized the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Tat protein which itself is taken up efficiently into intact cells. Chimeras of E2R and the cellular uptake domain of Tat specifically inhibited E2-dependent reporter gene expression in COS-7 cells. Treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia cells having episomally replicating HPV-31 DNA with this Tat-E2R protein led to a dose-dependent loss of HPV DNA copies and inhibition of cell growth. Tat-mediated delivery can be a valuable tool for assessing protein function and may allow the development of novel therapeutic proteins having intracellular targets.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Enhanced degradation of p53 protein in HPV-6 and BPV-1 E6-immortalized human mammary epithelial cells.

Normal mammary epithelial cells are efficiently immortalized by the E6 gene of human papillomavirus (HPV)-16, a virus commonly associated with cervical cancers. Surprisingly, introduction of the E6 gene from HPV-6, which is rarely found in cervical cancer, or bovine papillomavirus (BPV)-1, into normal mammary cells resulted in the generation of immortal cell lines. The establishment of HPV-6 and BPV-1 E6-immortalized cells was less efficient and required a longer period in comparison to HPV-16 E6. These HPV-6- and BPV-1 E6-immortalized cells demonstrated dramatically reduced levels of p53 protein by immunoprecipitation. While the half-life of p53 protein in normal mammary epithelial cells was approximately 3 h, it was reduced to approximately 15 min in all the E6-immortalized cells. These results demonstrate that the E6 genes of both high-risk and low-risk papilloma viruses immortalize human mammary epithelial cells and induce a marked degradation of p53 protein in vivo.

Base Sequence↗

The tryptophan bridge is a critical feature of the papillomavirus E2 DNA binding domain.

The papillomavirus E2 protein is a DNA binding protein that regulates viral transcription and replication. E2 binds DNA as a dimer. Recent crystallographic data for E2 complexed to DNA revealed that novel peptide structures in E2 mediated dimerization and DNA binding. To identify important features of these motifs we have used limited proteolysis and urea denaturation as biochemical probes for structure, applying these techniques to E2 alone, E2 bound to DNA, cross-linked products, and mutants that were targeted at Trp360, a contact point along the dimer interface. DNA binding stabilized E2 structure, shifting the point at which it denatures from 5 to 7.6 M urea. In contrast, Trp360 mutant proteins, while dimeric, were more sensitive to denaturation by urea when bound to DNA. The most striking results came from uv cross-linking studies in which Trp360 was targeted as the site of cross-linking. Ultraviolet cross-linking dramatically increased the resistance of E2 to proteolysis regardless of the protease tested and with no deleterious effect on the affinity of E2 for DNA. Cross-linking through Cys356 with bismaleimidohexane did not promote stabilization. The ability to stabilize or destabilize E2 by Trp360-targeted modifications demonstrates the importance of the Trp360-Trp360 interaction, which may represent a general feature of the beta-barrel motif.

Base Sequence↗

Amino acids necessary for DNA contact and dimerization imply novel motifs in the papillomavirus E2 trans-activator.

The bovine papillomavirus E2 protein regulates viral transcription by binding as a dimer to the DNA sequence ACCGN4CGGT. The dimerization and DNA-binding properties are localized within its carboxy-terminal 85 amino acids (325-410). Utilizing random mutagenesis coupled with phenotypic selection in yeast, functionally important amino acids in the DNA-binding domain were identified. Four trans-activation defective point mutants within a short segment (amino acids 337-344) were DNA binding defective but dimeric. The mutation of a conserved tryptophan to serine also eliminated DNA binding, but loss of dimerization was implicated because addition of dimeric monoclonal antibody complemented this defect. A simple assay for E2 dimerization was developed using UV irradiation to produce an interchain cross-link within a dimer. No heterodimeric complexes were formed when pools of E2 of varying lengths were mixed, and only proteins with tryptophan at position 360 could be UV cross-linked. Peptide mapping of irradiated E2 protein localized the cross-link to an 18-amino-acid region bracketing this tryptophan. Substitutions for this tryptophan demonstrated the requirement for a hydrophobic residue at this position, but surprisingly, even alanine was functional. Replacement of this tryptophan with three polar amino acids or glycine eliminated DNA-binding activity, but addition of dimeric monoclonal antibody restored this function. The amino acids that were identified as being involved in DNA contact and dimerization imply that these functions are mediated by novel binding motifs.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Mechanism of action of the papillomavirus E2 repressor: repression in the absence of DNA binding.

Repression of papillomavirus E2-dependent gene expression was studied by using transient transfections into mouse embryo fibroblast cells. Cotransfection of a gene corresponding to the naturally occurring repressor E2-TR along with the full-length E2 gene resulted in up to 98% repression of E2-dependent reporter gene expression. A series of E2 DNA-binding domain mutants were transferred into the E2-TR form and characterized for their ability to repress E2-dependent transactivation. All mutants which were defective for DNA binding but were dimerization competent repressed E2 transactivation as well or nearly as well as the wild-type repressor. E2 mutants which lacked dimerization activity repressed transactivation poorly or not at all. These results indicate that the E2 repressor can inhibit transcription, in the absence of DNA binding, by forming heterodimers with full-length E2.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Cooperative binding of the E2 protein of bovine papillomavirus to adjacent E2-responsive sequences.

The DNA-binding properties of purified full-length E2 protein from bovine papillomavirus type 1 have been investigated by utilizing a quantitative gel shift analysis. By using a recombinant baculovirus which express the E2 open reading frame from the polyhedrin promoter, the full-length E2 protein was synthesized in insect cells and purified to homogeneity by using an E2 binding site (ACCGN4CGGT)-specific oligonucleotide column. The Kd of E2 binding to a 41-bp oligonucleotide containing a single binding site was found to be 2 x 10(-11) M. When two binding sites were included on an oligonucleotide, cooperative binding to these sites by the E2 protein was observed. A cooperativity parameter of 8.5 was determined for E2 binding to two sites. An 86-amino-acid peptide encompassing the C terminus of the protein retains the ability to bind E2 binding sites with a Kd of 4 x 10(-10) M but exhibits slight cooperativity of binding to two adjacent sites. A major determinant for cooperative binding of the full-length E2 protein is thus encoded by the N-terminal amino acids outside the minimal DNA binding domain.

Baculoviridae↗

Human papillomavirus DNA sequences in cell lines derived from head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

There is increasing evidence that human papillomaviruses (HPV) have a casual role in some neoplasms in human beings. As examples, DNA of HPV types 16, 18, and 31 are frequently present in genital cancers in humans. Recently, oncogenic HPV types have also been identified in neoplasms of the head and neck, including verrucous carcinoma of the larynx, squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity and larynx, and inverted papillomas of the nose. These findings and our resource of an extensive panel of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines led us to begin to investigate how frequently HPV DNA was present in these tumor cell lines. For initial analysis, twenty-two HNSCC cell lines derived from 20 patients' tumors were selected as representative of our tumor cell line panel with respect to diversity of primary site, tumor stage, patient age, sex, and clinical course. For Southern analysis, cell line DNA was tested for hybridization with DNA probes for HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, and 31. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis was also performed on five tumor cell lines using types 6, 11, 16, 18, and 52 as probes. Southern blot analysis revealed HPV-specific signals in two of the 22 HNSCC cell lines tested. One of these, UM-SCC-23, was HPV 31 positive, which to our knowledge is the first identification of HPV 31 in HNSCC. UM-SCC-63, the other HPV-positive tumor identified by Southern analysis, hybridized with both type 18 and 31. Of the five tumor cell lines tested with PCR, two were HPV positive.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Targeting the E1 replication protein to the papillomavirus origin of replication by complex formation with the E2 transactivator.

The mechanism by which transcription factors stimulate DNA replication in eukaryotes is unknown. Bovine papillomavirus DNA synthesis requires the products of the viral E1 gene and the transcriptional activator protein encoded by the E2 gene. Experimental data showed that the 68-kilodalton (kD) E1 protein formed a complex with the 48-kD E2 transcription factor. This complex bound specifically to the viral origin of replication, which contains multiple binding sites for E2. Repressor proteins encoded by the E2 open reading frame failed to complex with E1 suggesting that the 162-amino acid region of E2 that participates in transactivation contained critical determinants for interaction with E1. The physical association between a replication protein and a transcription factor suggests that transcriptional activator proteins may function in targeting replication initiator proteins to their respective origins of replication.

Animals↗

Transcriptional activation by the papillomavirus E6 zinc finger oncoprotein.

The introduction of the bovine (BPV) or human papillomavirus E6 gene into susceptible cells can result in their transformation, but there are few clues to the mechanism of action of the E6 gene. The characteristic features of E6 proteins are their small size (approximately 150 amino acids) and the potential to form two large zinc fingers. To determine if E6 can function as a transcription factor, the BPV E6 gene was fused to the sequence specific DNA binding peptide encoded by the BPV E2 gene. This chimeric E6-E2 protein trans-activated promoters that incorporated E2 binding elements in both rodent cells and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the absence of E6-E2 localization to the target promoter, trans-activation did not occur. Alteration of the cysteine residues at the base of each finger abrogated the transcriptional activity of the E6-E2 hybrids. These data demonstrated that the BPV E6 gene encodes a transcription activation domain and imply that a specific structure of the protein, most likely the zinc fingers, is critical for this function. Since these cysteine mutants are also transformation defective, E6 transcriptional functions may be required for its oncogenic activity.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Antigen presentation and T-cell activation in epidermodysplasia verruciformis.

Aberrant immune responses may play a role in the susceptibility of patients with epidermodysplasia verruciformis to human papilloma virus (HPV). We examined the stimulatory capacity of antigen-presenting cells from HPV-infected skin and peripheral blood T-cell responses of patients with epidermodysplasia verruciformis. The percentage of Langerhans cells in relation to total epidermal cells in suspension was slightly reduced in HPV-infected lesions, relative to apparently clinically uninfected epidermis. In addition, the morphologic appearance of Langerhans cells was altered in lesional epidermal sheets. Despite these abnormalities, Langerhans cells were functionally intact in their capacity to present alloantigens to T cells and, in fact, the epidermis of HPV-infected lesions demonstrated enhanced antigen-presenting activity in three of four patients tested. The antigen-presenting activity was entirely abrogated by removal of Langerhans cells and was not associated with increased activity of cytokines with stimulatory activity for the thymocyte co-stimulation assay. Although epidermodysplasia verruciformis T cells were unresponsive to autologous HPV-infected epidermis, they responded well to mitogens, allogeneic mononuclear leukocytes, and allogeneic epidermal cells. Epidermodysplasia verruciformis T cells were inhibited in their capacity to respond to allogeneic epidermal cells when they were simultaneously exposed to autologous epidermal cells from HPV-infected lesional epidermis, but not to normal-appearing epidermis. Thus, although Langerhans cell activity is intact in epidermodysplasia verruciformis, these individuals fail to respond to autologous papillomas, which may, at least in part, be explained by an interaction between papillomal epidermal cells and autologous T cells that results in an inhibited response.

Antigen-Presenting Cells↗

Proteins encoded by the bovine papillomavirus E1 open reading frame: expression in heterologous systems and in virally transformed cells.

The E1 open reading frame (ORF) of bovine papillomavirus type 1 is required for the persistence of viral genomes as multicopy plasmid molecules in transformed rodent fibroblasts. E1 has been reported to contain two separate complementation groups (M and R, corresponding to N- and C-terminal domains, respectively) which regulate viral replication. However, E1 behaves as a single gene with respect to cell transformation and viral transcription. We examined the proteins translated from the entire ORF by using three antisera raised against E1 peptide or bacterial fusion proteins. The capacity of the whole ORF to encode a 72-kDa protein was demonstrated by translation of synthetic RNA in a reticulocyte lysate system, by microinjection of RNA into Xenopus oocytes, and by expression in recombinant baculoviruses and vaccinia viruses. In eucaryotic cells, this protein was found to be phosphorylated and targeted to the cell nucleus. In vitro translation also produced shorter peptides, containing only the E1 C-terminal domain, because of internal translation starts on the third and fourth methionine codons within E1 ORF. On the other hand, mammalian cells infected by vaccinia E1 recombinant virus contained additional larger E1 phosphoproteins (transient 85-kDa and stable 88-kDa species), likely representing processed forms of the 72-kDa species. The E1 72-kDa nuclear phosphoprotein was detected in bovine papillomavirus type 1-transformed cells. We report the biochemical characteristics of full-sized and truncated E1 proteins: (i) the C-terminal half of E1 ORF contains a phosphorylation site(s); (ii) the full-sized E1, but not the C-terminal protein, binds DNA, without indication for recognition of defined sequences, and critical determinants for this activity are likely confined to an N-terminal domain of the protein; (iii) covalent affinity labeling experiments performed on vaccinia virus-encoded E1 proteins with an ATP analog confirmed our previous observation of sequence similarities between the E1 C-terminal domain and the ATPase domain of simian virus 40 large T antigen.

Animals↗

Papillomavirus-associated inductions of cellular proteins in mouse C127 cells: correlation with the presence of open reading frame E2.

Bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BPV-1) readily transforms mouse C127 cells, conferring the ability to grow in soft agar and to form tumors in athymic (nu/nu) mice. Electrophoresis of total cellular proteins from these BPV-transformed lines on ultra-high resolution, giant two-dimensional gels displays the presence of novel, papillomavirus-related protein phenotypes. Analysis of the established BPV-1-transformed C127 cell lines, ID13 and ID14, reveals a set of six proteins which are either absent or synthesized at extremely low levels in the parental cell line. One of these proteins is also present in v-ras-transformed C127 cells, but none of the others are found in cells transformed by a variety of viral oncogenes, including the polyomavirus middle T, v-mos, or v-fes. The genome of BPV-1 contains two separate open reading frames (ORFs), E5 and E6, which can act independently to transform C127 cells. In addition, trans-activator and repressor proteins encoded respectively by the full-length and carboxy-terminal E2 ORF regulate the level of expression of other BPV-1 genes. We examined 34 cell lines transformed by intact and subgenomic recombinant DNAs of BPV-1. Cells harboring BPV-1 DNAs engineered to eliminate the expression of ORFs E4, E5, E6, or E7 display five of the PV-associated proteins, but these proteins are not seen in lines lacking the full E2 ORF. Moreover, G418-selected nontransformed cells expressing E2 cDNA from an SV40 promoter exhibit these proteins at high levels. Surprisingly, these proteins are also present in cells containing BPV-1 DNAs with amino-terminal E2 deletions, suggesting that these PV-associated proteins represent novel cellular responses to a factor encoded within the E2-C gene region.

Animals↗

Trans activation by the bovine papillomavirus E2 protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The papillomavirus E2 protein functions as an enhancer-binding factor to promote transcription in mammalian cells. We found that one copy of the E2 binding site acted as an E2 protein-dependent upstream activating sequence in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Additional copies of the binding motif further augmented transcription. These results imply that the E2 protein functionally interacts with highly conserved transcriptional elements.

Bovine papillomavirus 1↗

Identification of bovine papillomavirus E1 mutants with increased transforming and transcriptional activity.

The E1 open reading frame of bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BPV) has been shown previously to encode trans-acting functions, M and R, that are involved in extrachromosomal replication of the viral genome. We have determined that several E1 mutants mapping in both the M and R regions and a single mutant of the upstream regulatory region have a higher transforming activity on mouse C127 cells than the wild-type genome does. A representative mutant in M, a mutant in R, and the upstream regulatory region mutant were complemented in trans by the wild-type genome, but the two E1 mutants did not complement each other, suggesting that they affect the same inhibitory function. A long terminal repeat-activated clone constructed to express the intact E1 open reading frame reversed the high-transformation phenotype of the mutants. In contrast to the high-copy-number autonomous replication of the wild-type genome, the genomes of the E1 mutants were, as previously described for other E1 mutants, integrated at lower copy numbers in the transformed cells. Relative to the viral genome copy number, both the E1 M and R mutant transformed cells contained an average of 10-fold more BPV-specific transcripts than did the wild-type transformed cells. Cycloheximide treatment of the cells transformed by the E1 mutants did not lead to the rapid 10-fold increase in the accumulation of viral transcripts observed with the wild-type genome. These results suggest either that integration of the BPV genome makes it unresponsive to a labile repressor or that an E1 gene product, containing both M and R sequences, is a repressor of BPV transcription.

Base Sequence↗