Accelerated onset of viral transcription in adenovirus-infected HeLa cells treated with the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate

PMA induces expression from the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase promoter via the activation of JNK and ERK in the presence of adenoviral E1A proteins

The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) thymidine kinase (TK) promoter contains elements involved in both constitutive and induced expression. We determined that phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) induces the HSV-1 TK promoter in HEK293 cells. However, PMA did not induce expression from the promoter in HeLa cells and did not result in a globally increased gene expression in HEK293 cells. Induction of HSV-1 TK promoter required activation of both of JNK and ERK pathways. However, activation of the two pathways alone was not sufficient for induction of HSV-1 TK promoter. By transiently transfecting into HeLa cells the adenoviral E1A gene, which exists as an integrant in HEK293 genome, we demonstrated that E1A proteins are necessary for induction of HSV-1 TK promoter by PMA. We propose mechanisms by which signaling pathways activated by the tumor-promoter PMA cooperate with the oncogene E1A to stimulate a eukaryotic promoter, namely the HSV-1 TK promoter.

Identification of a region on the adenovirus E1A gene responsible for induction by phorbol ester tumor promoter

12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) treatment induces human adenovirus (Ad) early region 1A (E1A) messenger ribonucleic acid expression in infected or Ad-transformed cells. Here, we report that deletion analysis has identified a TPA-responsive element (TRE) in the E1A enhancer region. Deletion analysis indicates that the TRE is located upstream of the E1A cap site between nucleotides -237 and -47. Incubation of extracts from TPA-treated cells with radioactively labeled deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragments containing the TRE (-237 to -47) form specific DNA-protein complexes as demonstrated by gel shift analysis and Southwestern blotting. These experiments provide evidence that novel protein-DNA complexes are formed on a region of the E1A promoter required for TPA-enhanced expression. We speculate that these DNA-binding proteins may interact with the TRE and play a critical role in the mechanism through which TPA upregulates transcription from the Ad E1A gene.

Adenovirus and protein kinase C have distinct molecular requirements for regulating epidermal growth factor receptor trafficking

The ligand-activated tyrosine kinase receptor for epidermal growth factor (EGF) is down-regulated by an integral membrane protein coded for by the E3 early transcription unit of group C adenoviruses. The E3 protein appears to block recycling of constitutively internalized receptors, causing them instead to traffic to lysosomes where they are degraded. Expression of functional EGF receptors is also regulated by protein kinase C (PKC), which directly phosphorylates the EGF receptor at Thr-654. The goal of this study was to determine potential interactions between PKC and the E3 protein, since membrane-bound PKC activity is elevated by the adenovirus E1A protein. Our results show that although tumor promoters which activate PKC cause a coordinate induction of E3 protein synthesis and EGF receptor degradation, the E3 protein-induced pathway for receptor down-regulation functions independently of PKC and other kinases that are inhibited by staurosporine. This suggests that in contrast to other mechanisms that modulate receptor expression (i.e., ligand and PKC), the E3 protein is not regulated by phosphorylation but is constitutively active. We also report that adenovirus-mediated degradation is the preferred pathway in infected cells stimulated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) to induce receptor recycling.

Stimulation of adenovirus early gene expression by phorbol ester: its possible mechanism

Treatment of Hela cells infected with adenovirus 5 wild type (Ad5WT) with the tumor-promoting phorbol ester TPA (12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate), accelerated as well as stimulated expression of viral early genes EII and EIII but not that of EIA. TPA treatment of HeLa cells infected with dl312, an Ad5 EIA deletion mutant, activated expression of EIII but not EII. Stimulation of EII and EIII expression was blocked by H7 (1-5-isoquinolinyl sulfonyl-2-methyl piperazine), a specific inhibitor of protein kinase c (PKc). Nuclear run off assays demonstrated that TPA exerted a stimulatory effect at the level of transcription. PKc inhibitor alone reduced transcription of early genes in the absence of TPA activation. Phosphorylation of EIA 35 kDa but not 40- to 45-kDa proteins was dramatically increased by TPA. Three cellular proteins of 200, 24, and 20 kDa which coprecipitated with EIA proteins underwent enhanced and preferential phosphorylation by activated PKc. Inhibitor of PKc blocked phosphorylation of cellular proteins and reduced phosphorylation of EIA 35 kDa but not EIA 40- to 45-kDa proteins. These results tend to indicate that TPA stimulates adenovirus early gene expression through activation of protein kinase c and further suggest but do not prove that this may be due to specific phosphorylation of EIA 35 kDa and cellular proteins of 200, 24, and 20 kDa.

Suppression of adenovirus type 5 E1A-mediated transformation and expression of the transformed phenotype by caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE)

Viral transformation and DNA-transfection assays were employed to investigate the differential toxic effect of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), an extract of the honeybee hive product propolis, on adenovirus type 5 (Ad5)-transformed cloned rat embryo fibroblast (CREF) cells. CAPE inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, both de novo and carcinogen-enhanced transformation of CREF cells by H5hr1, the cold-sensitive (cs) host-range mutant of Ad5. CAPE had a selective inhibitory effect on Ad5-induced transformation when a wild-type (wt) Ad5 E1A gene or a cs Ad5 E1A gene (at 37 degrees C, but not at 32 degrees C) was cotransfected into CREF cells with a dominant-acting bacterial hygromycin-resistance gene. A requirement for the expression of Ad5 E1A-encoded mRNAs and transforming proteins and sensitivity to CAPE was demonstrated using CREF cells stably transformed by a cs Ad5 E1A gene and an Ad5 E1A gene under the transcriptional control of a mouse mammary tumor virus promoter. To distinguish between the effects of the two Ad5 E1A-encoded proteins of 289 amino acids (aa) and 243 aa, CREF cells were stably transformed with cDNAs encoding either the 13S or the 12S E1A mRNA. CREF cells expressing the 13S E1A-encoded 289-aa protein were more sensitive to the growth-suppressing effect of CAPE than cells producing only the 12S E1A-encoded 243-aa protein. However, the growth-suppressing and toxic effects of CAPE were greatest in cells expressing both E1A-encoded transforming proteins. Analysis of the effect of CAPE on E1A and beta-actin gene expression in wt and cs E1A and H5hr1-transformed CREF cells indicated that low levels of CAPE, which were growth suppressive, did not selectively suppress E1A expression. These results demonstrated that cellular changes induced in CREF cells by the 13S E1A-encoded 289-aa protein of Ad5, when expressed alone or in combination with the 12S E1A-encoded 243-aa protein, rendered transformed cells sensitive to the growth-suppressing and toxic effects of CAPE.

Low-level beta 1 protein kinase C expression in cloned rat embryo fibroblast cells enhances transformation induced by the adenovirus type 5 E1A gene

Expression of the E1A gene of adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) in a cloned rat embryo fibroblast (CREF) cell line results in morphological transformation. The efficiency of E1A-mediated transformation of CREF cells is increased if a wild-type Ad5 E1A gene is cotransfected with a rat beta 1 protein kinase C (beta 1 PKC) gene. A direct demonstration of complementation between a functional-transforming Ad5 E1A gene and beta 1 PK in inducing transformation was demonstrated using Ad5 E1A cold-sensitive mutant (E1Acs) genes. The E1Acs gene enhanced transformation only at the transformation-permissive temperature of 37 degrees C and not at the nonpermissive transforming temperature of 32 degrees C. CREF cells constitutively expressing low levels of beta 1 PKC mRNA were transformed at a higher frequency than parental CREF cells after transfection with an Ad5 E1A gene or infection with wild-type Ad5 or the Ad5 host-range cold-sensitive mutant H5hr1. There was no enhancement of transformation in low-level beta 1 PKC-expressing CREF cells when cultures were grown continuously in the presence of the PKC-inhibitor 1-(5-isoquinolynsulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine dihydrochloride. Transfected CREF cells expressing low levels of beta 1 PKC mRNA displayed CREF-like morphology and did not form colonies when grown in agar. In contrast, retroviral vector-transformed CREF cells expressing high levels of beta 1 PKC mRNA and beta 1 PKC enzyme activity were morphologically transformed and grew efficiently in agar. These findings indicate that the beta 1 PKC gene, when expressed at low levels, can cooperate with the Ad5 E1A gene in the initiation of viral oncogene-mediated transformation.