Latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is a major oncogene encoded by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and is essential for immortalization of B cells by the virus. Previous studies suggested that several transcription factors, such as PU.1, RBP-Jκ, NFκB, EBF1, AP-2 and STAT, are involved in LMP1 induction; however, the means by which the oncogene is negatively regulated remains unclear. Here, we introduced short mutations into the proximal LMP1 promoter that includes recognition sites for the E-box and Ikaros transcription factors in the context of EBV-bacterial artificial chromosome. Upon infection, the mutant exhibited increased LMP1 expression and EBV-mediated immortalization of B cells. However, single mutations of either the E-box or Ikaros sites had limited effects on LMP1 expression and transformation. Our results suggest that this region contains a suppressive cis-regulatory element, but other transcriptional repressors (apart from the E-box and Ikaros transcription factors) may remain to be discovered.
Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.
CITATION STYLE
Yoshida, M., Murata, T., Ashio, K., Narita, Y., Watanabe, T., Al Masud, H. M. A., … Kimura, H. (2017). Characterization of a suppressive Cis-acting element in the Epstein-Barr virus LMP1 promoter. Frontiers in Microbiology, 8(NOV). https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02302