The human pre-T-cell receptor alpha (TCR␣; pT␣) gene encodes a polypeptide which associates with the TCR chain and CD3 molecules to form the pre-TCR complex. The surface expression of the pre-TCR is pT␣ dependent, and signaling through this complex triggers an early ␣ T-cell developmental checkpoint inside the thymus, known as -selection. E2A transcription factors, which are involved at multiple stages of T-cell development, regulate the transcription of the pT␣ gene. Here we show that the regulatory protein Tax of the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) efficiently suppresses the E47-mediated activation of the pT␣ promoter. Furthermore, we report that in Tax lentivirally transduced human MOLT-4 T cells, which constitutively express the pT␣ gene, the amount of pT␣ transcripts decreases. Such a decrease is not observed in MOLT-4 cells transduced by a vector encoding the Tax mutant K88A, which is unable to interact with p300. These data underline that Tax inhibits pT␣ transcription by recruiting this coactivator. Finally, we show that the expression of Tax in human immature thymocytes results in a decrease of pT␣ gene transcription but does not modify the level of E47 transcripts. These observations indicate that Tax, by silencing E proteins, down-regulates pT␣ gene transcription during early thymocyte development. They further provide evidence that Tax can interfere with an important checkpoint during T-cell differentiation in the thymus.
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