Cyclic AMP-regulated gene expression frequently involves a DNA element known as the cAMP-regulated enhancer (CRE). Many transcription factors bind to this element, including the protein CREB, which is activated as a result of phosphorylation by protein kinase A. This modification stimulates interaction with one or more of the general transcription factors or, alternatively, allows recruitment of a co-activator. Here we report that CREB phosphorylated by protein kinase A binds specifically to a nuclear protein of M(r) 265K which we term CBP (for CREB-binding protein). Fusion of a heterologous DNA-binding domain to the amino terminus of CBP enables the chimaeric protein to function as a protein kinase A-regulated transcriptional activator. We propose that CBP may participate in cAMP-regulated gene expression by interacting with the activated phosphorylated form of CREB.

The transcription factor CREB binds to a DNA element known as the cAMP-regulated enhancer (CRE). CREB is activated through phosphorylation by protein kinase A (PKA), but precisely how phosphorylation stimulates CREB function is unknown. One model is that phosphorylation may allow the recruitment of coactivators which then interact with basal transcription factors. We have previously identified a nuclear protein of M(r)265K, CBP, that binds specifically to the PKA-phosphorylated form of CREB. We have used fluorescence anisotropy measurements to define the equilibrium binding parameters of the phosphoCREB:CBP interaction and report here that CBP can activate transcription through a region in its carboxy terminus. The activation domain of CBP interacts with the basal transcription factor TFIIB through a domain that is conserved in the yeast coactivator ADA-1 (ref. 8). Consistent with its role as a coactivator, CBP augments the activity of phosphorylated CREB to activate transcription of cAMP-responsive genes.

We have examined the regulation of somatostatin gene expression by cAMP in PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells transfected with the rat somatostatin gene. Forskolin at 10 jIM caused a 4-fold increase in somatostatin mRNA levels within 4 hr of treatment in stably transfected cells. Chimeric genes containing the somatostatin gene promoter fused to the bacterial reporter gene encoding chloramphenicol acetyltransferase were also induced by cAMP in PC12 cells. To delineate the sequences required for response to cAMP, we constructed a series of promoter deletion mutants. Our studies defined a region between 60 and 29 base pairs upstream from the transcriptional initiation site that conferred cAMP responsiveness when placed adjacent to the simian virus 40 promoter. Within the cAMP-responsive element of the somatostatin gene, we observed an 8-base palindrome, 5'-TGACGTCA-3', which is highly conserved in many other genes whose expression is regulated by cAMP. cAMP responsiveness was greatly reduced when the somatostatin fusion genes were transfected into the mutant PC12 line A126-1B2, which is deficient in cAMPdependent protein kinase 2. Our studies indicate that transcriptional regulation of the somatostatin gene by cAMP requires protein kinase 2 activity and may depend upon a highly conserved promoter element.