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Transforming activity and the level of Tax protein: effect of one point mutation in HTLV-I tax gene.

The transcriptional trans-activator molecule of HTLV-I, Tax, is known to transform rodent fibroblasts. A revertant clone expressing Tax was obtained by treating transformed Rat-I cells harboring a single copy of the tax gene with a mutagen. Sequence analysis of the tax gene of the revertant clone revealed that it had one point mutation at codon 12(CTT----TTT), resulting in a change from Leu to Phe. The colony-forming efficiencies of the cells transfected with the mutant tax gene (mu71 tax) were significantly lower than those transfected with the wild-type by the soft-agar method. This difference was shown to be due to the instability of mu71 Tax.

Amino Acid Sequence

HTLV-I Tax is a zinc-binding protein: role of zinc in Tax structure and function.

We have examined the functional significance of the cysteine- and histidine-rich region (amino acids 22-53) of HTLV-I Tax. A modeling of this region suggests two possible overlapping zinc-finger-like motifs. Using a zinc blotting technique, we show that Tax binds zinc. An N-terminal deletion in Tax that removed this zinc-finger region abolished the ability to bind zinc. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to generate 10 separate mutations so as to discriminate between the two alternative zinc-binding structures. Each Tax mutant was studied for its ability to trans-activate the HTLV-I LTR. Five of the ten mutations inactivated trans-activation. Our results support that one of the two putative zinc fingers is an integral element of Tax structure.

Amino Acid Sequence

Sequence variation of functional HTLV-II tax alleles among isolates from an endemic population: lack of evidence for oncogenic determinant in tax.

Human T-cell leukemia-lymphoma virus type II (HTLV-II) has been isolated from patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL). We previously described a population with longstanding endemic HTLV-II infection, and showed that there is no increased risk for HCL in the affected groups. We thus have direct evidence that the endemic form(s) of HTLV-II cause HCL infrequently, if at all. By comparison, there is reason to suspect that the viruses isolated from patients with HCL had an etiologic role in the disease in those patients. One way to reconcile these conflicting observations is to consider that isolates of HTLV-II might differ in oncogenic potential. To determine whether the structure of the putative oncogenic determinant of HTLV-II, tax2, might differ in the new isolates compared to the tax of the prototype HCL isolate, MO, four new functional tax cDNAs were cloned from new isolates. Sequence analysis showed only minor (0.9-2.0%) amino acid variation compared to the published sequence of MO tax2. Some codons were consistently different from published sequences of the MO virus, but in most cases, such variations were also found in each of two tax2 clones we isolated from the MO T-cell line. These variations rendered the new clones more similar to the tax1 of the pathogenic virus HTLV-I. Thus we find no evidence that pathologic determinants of HTLV-II can be assigned to the tax gene.

Alleles

In vitro activation of transcription by the human T-cell leukemia virus type I Tax protein.

The human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) regulatory protein Tax activates transcription of the proviral long terminal repeats and a number of cellular promoters. We have developed an in vitro system to characterize the mechanism by which Tax interacts with the host cell transcription machinery. Tax was purified from cells infected with a baculovirus expression vector. Addition of these Tax preparations to nuclear extracts from uninfected human T lymphocytes activated transcription of the HTLV-I long terminal repeat approximately 10-fold. Transcription-stimulatory activity copurified with the immunoreactive 40-kDa Tax polypeptide on gel filtration chromatography, and, as expected, the effect of recombinant Tax was diminished in HTLV-I-infected T-lymphocyte extracts containing endogenous Tax. Tax-mediated transactivation in vivo has been previously shown to require 21-bp-repeat Tax-responsive elements (TxREs) in the promoter DNA. Stimulation of transcription in vitro was also strongly dependent on these sequences. To investigate the mechanism of Tax transactivation, cellular proteins that bind the 21-bp-repeat TxREs were prepared by DNA affinity chromatography. Recombinant Tax markedly increased the formation of a specific host protein-DNA complex detected in an electrophoretic mobility shift assay. These data suggest that Tax activates transcription through a direct interaction with cellular proteins that bind to the 21-bp-repeat TxREs.

Base Sequence

The Revenue Act of 1978: tax reform legislation continues.

The Revenue Act of 1978 contains several changes in the federal tax laws that affect the business aspects of dental practice as well as the dentist as a individual taxpayer. The dentist as a business person should be aware of the provisions affecting the investment credit, simplified pensions plans, the corporate tax rates, the jobs tax credit, and subchapter S corporations. The dentist as an individual taxpayer should be aware of the new individual tax rates, the general tax credit, changes in the itemized deductions, and the capital gains tax. In addition, all dentists must be aware of the changes in the social security laws. The provisions of the Revenue Act of 1978 presented do not represent every new provision, only those that most directly affect the dentist. Several other provisions of the act must not be overlooked in tax planning or tax preparation. With the changes in the tax laws in mind, the dentist, working with an attornye, accountant, or business advisor, could plan the advantageous ways to expand the practice, purchase new equipment, or shorten the time of tax return preparation.

Dentists

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) transcriptional activator, Tax, enhances CREB binding to HTLV-I 21-base-pair repeats by protein-protein interaction.

HTLV-I Tax protein activates transcription from three 21-base-pair (bp) repeat sequences in the viral enhancer. The HTLV-I 21-bp repeat contains a TGACGT motif that is homologous to the cAMP-responsive element (CRE) and crucial for tax transactivation. Tax exhibits marginal affinity for DNA but rather interacts with cellular CRE-binding proteins to enhance their affinity for the HTLV-I 21-bp repeats. Using the HTLV-I 21-bp repeat and Jurkat T-lymphocyte nuclear extract in a gel electrophoretic mobility-shift assay, we previously detected three protein-DNA complexes that are specific for the CRE in the 21-bp repeat (complexes I, II, and IV). Complexes I and II but not IV interacted with Tax. We now show that complexes I, II, and IV are composed of CREB (CRE binding protein) homodimer, CREB/ATF-1 (activating transcription factor 1) heterodimer, and ATF-1 homodimer, respectively. Tax stabilizes complexes I and II via a direct interaction with the CREB moiety. In the absence of DNA, CREB and Tax continue to form a complex that can be immunoprecipitated by a Tax-specific antibody. These results suggest that one mechanism by which Tax activates transcription may be mediated through the direct interaction with CREB homodimer and/or CREB/ATF-1 heterodimer to stabilize their assembly on the Tax-responsive CRE motifs in the HTLV-I enhancer.

Amino Acid Sequence

Did tax reform hurt the elderly?

Federal and state income tax reform increased aggregate federal tax payments of elderly taxpayers by just over 5% and their aggregate state taxes by about 6%. However, the entire increase is accounted for by the elderly in the top income decile. The mean change in total income taxes paid by the elderly was $135, but the median increase was zero because most older persons paid no federal or state income tax before or after tax reform. The overall effect of tax reform was a slight shift in income tax burdens from the nonelderly to the elderly reversing a trend dating from the late 1970s.

Aged

Expression and characterization of the trans-activating protein Tax of human T-cell leukemia virus type I in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The trans-activator protein Tax of human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) stimulates transcription of the viral genome from the long terminal repeat. With a reporter HIS4TATA::lacZ fusion gene, the transcriptional activity of the Tax-responsive element in the long terminal repeat was tested in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We found that fragments containing the 21-bp repeat of the HTLV-I enhancer stimulate synthesis of beta-galactosidase activity 15- to 20-fold. To test the ability of the Tax protein to trans activate the HTLV-I enhancer in yeast cells, the pX region of HTLV-I, encoding the Tax protein, was cloned under the control of the yeast GAL1 promoter. The expressed Tax protein is localized in the nucleus and associated with the yeast nuclear matrix fraction. In yeast cells that contained the integrated tax gene, two- to sixfold stimulation of expression from the HTLV-I enhancer was detected at the early stages of tax induction. This in vivo reconstitution system provides a new approach for examining the host factor(s), the signal transduction mechanism(s), and the role of nuclear architecture involved in Tax-mediated trans activation.

Blotting, Western