An in vitro replication system for mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) strain A59 was developed using lysolecithin to produce cell extracts. In extracts of MHV-infected cells, radiolabeled UMP was incorporated at a linear rate for up to 1 h into RNA, which hybridized to MHV-specific cDNA probes and migrated in denaturing formaldehyde-agarose gels to the same position as MHV genomic RNA. The incorporation of [32PJUMP into genome-sized RNA in vitro correlated with the observed increase of [3H]uridine incorporation in MHV-infected cells labeled in vivo. Incorporation of [32P]UMP into genome-sized RNA was inhibited when extracts were incubated with puromycin. The addition to the assay of antiserum to the MHV-A59 nucleocapsid protein N inhibited synthesis of genome-sized RNA by 90% compared with the addition of preimmune serum. In contrast, antiserum to the El or E2 glycoproteins did not significantly inhibit RNA replication. In vitro-synthesized RNA banded in cesium chloride gradients as a ribonucleoprotein complex with the characteristic density of MHV nucleocapsids isolated from virions. These experiments suggest that ongoing protein synthesis is necessary for replication of MHV genomic RNA and indicate that the N protein plays an important role in MHV replication.
A strain variation of varicella-zoster virus that maps to the UL region of the genome was found to be due to different copy numbers of a high GC 42-base-pair repeat. DNA sequence analysis of this variable region showed the sequence to be 5-GCGGGATCGGGCTTTCGGG(A/T)AGCGGCCGAGGTGGGCGCGACG-3. Strains Scott and Webster both contain 7 and 32 copies of the repeat, whereas strain Oka has exactly 4 copies less. Microheterogeneity exists within the repeated sequences, depending on the strain and the repeat number. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cells and viruses. VZV strains Oka, Webster, and Ellen were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection. Strain Scott was a gift from G. Fischer, Department of Pediatrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. All viruses were grown in human foreskin fibroblast cells as previously described (30, 34). DNAs. VZV DNA fragments generated by EcoRI and BamHI were cloned into pBR325 or GT.wesB as previously described (29, 33) or into pUC9 (39). Clones containing EcoRI-P or BamHI-F were identified for further analysis after colony hybridization. DNA fragments were separated by electrophoresis in 1 or 1.5% agarose gels (SeaKem LE type; FMC Corp., Marine Div., Rockland, Maine) run at 40 mA for 18 to 24 h in 0.1 M Tris borate-0.01 M EDTA (pH 660
The POMC gene is expressed predominantly in the anterior pituitary. The high level of POMC transcription in this tissue is modulated by peptide hormones and repressed by glucocorticoids. In this present study we have investigated promoter elements required for the high basal transcription and glucocorticoid repression using transient transfection and in vitro transcription assays. We first determined that the region between -77 to -51 of the promoter, which has previously been shown to harbor a glucocorticoid receptor-binding site, is required for high basal expression both in vivo and in vitro. This promoter domain is also required for glucocorticoid repression of transcription in vivo. Two site-directed mutants within this area both decreased basal transcription, but were fully repressed by glucocorticoids, implying that the -77 to -51 region is a complex regulatory region harboring separable basal and glucocorticoid-repressible elements. Electrophoretic mobility shift and exonuclease III footprinting analysis revealed the existence of two factors that bind in this region. We also examined the effect of broad promoter deletions on basal expression and glucocorticoid repression. These experiments revealed that the region between -480 and -320 is also required for glucocorticoid repression. Taken together, the data suggest a model in which high basal transcription is generated by direct interaction of factors binding between -480 to -320 and -77 to -51. Glucocorticoid repression could occur by direct receptor disruption of these interactions.
We demonstrate that a factor (PO-B), detected in a number of mammalian cell lines, binds specifically between the TATA box and the transcription initiation site of the pituitary-specific pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene. Methylation interference and DNAse 1 footprint analysis revealed that the binding site of this protein, -3 to -15, does not overlap the POMC TATA box or cap site. Mutation of the PO-B binding site significantly decreased the transcriptional activity of the POMC promoter after transient transfection into the ATt-20 mouse pituitary tumor cell line and also in in vitro transcription assays. In contrast, mutation of the TATA box produced no overall decrease in transcription in vivo but induced multiple heterogeneous start sites in vitro. A vector harboring the PO-B site alone was unable to direct transcription initiation. PO-B represents a new transcription factor that may be able to facilitate POMC gene expression by interacting with components of the transcription initiation complex.
The enhancer of the human neurotropic papovavirus JC virus (JCV) restricts viral transcription to glial cells. We utilized the tissue specificity of the JCV enhancer as a tool to investigate the function of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Tat in transcriptional activation. The reporter plasmid pJCTAR-CAT was constructed by inserting the HIV type 1 Tat-responsive element, TAR, between the JCV promoter and the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene. Cotransfection of pJCTAR-CAT and pSV-Tat, an expression vector for Tat, resulted in a 50-fold increase in JCV promoter activity in cells nonpermissive for JCV expression. Both the 98-bp JCV enhancer and the HIV TAR sequences were required for transactivation of pJCTAR-CAT in nonpermissive cells. The transactivation by Tat occurred at the level of transcription, as the increase in CAT activity paralleled an increase in the steady-state levels of CAT mRNA in Sl nuclease and nuclear run-on analyses. In the presence of Tat, the JCV enhancer is functional in cells normally nonpermissive for JCV expression; therefore, our results provide unique evidence that HIV type 1 Tat may regulate the activity of specific transcription factors.
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