scholarly journals Phosphorylation of the RNA Polymerase II Carboxyl-Terminal Domain by CDK9 Is Directly Responsible for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Tat-Activated Transcriptional Elongation

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 4622-4637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Kyeung Kim ◽  
Cyril F. Bourgeois ◽  
Catherine Isel ◽  
Mark J. Churcher ◽  
Jonathan Karn
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Transcription Elongation ◽  
Transcriptional Elongation ◽  
Tat Protein ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Carboxyl Terminal ◽  
Transcription Complexes

ABSTRACT Stimulation of transcriptional elongation by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat protein is mediated by CDK9, a kinase that phosphorylates the RNA polymerase II carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD). In order to obtain direct evidence that this phosphorylation event can alter RNA polymerase processivity, we prepared transcription elongation complexes that were arrested by the lac repressor. The CTD was then dephosphorylated by treatment with protein phosphatase 1. The dephosphorylated transcription complexes were able to resume the transcription elongation when IPTG (isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactopyranoside) and nucleotides were added to the reaction. Under these chase conditions, efficient rephosphorylation of the CTD was observed in complexes containing the Tat protein but not in transcription complexes prepared in the absence of Tat protein. Immunoblots and kinase assays with synthetic peptides showed that Tat activated CDK9 directly since the enzyme and its cyclin partner, cyclin T1, were present at equivalent levels in transcription complexes prepared in the presence or absence of Tat. Chase experiments with the dephosphorylated elongation transcription complexes were performed in the presence of the CDK9 kinase inhibitor DRB (5,6-dichloro-1-β-d-ribofuranosyl-benzimidazole). Under these conditions there was no rephosphorylation of the CTD during elongation, and transcription through either a stem-loop terminator or bent DNA arrest sequence was strongly inhibited. In experiments in which the CTD was phosphorylated prior to elongation, the amount of readthrough of the terminator sequences was proportional to the extent of the CTD modification. The change in processivity is due to CTD phosphorylation alone, since even after the removal of Spt5, the second substrate for CDK9, RNA polymerase elongation is enhanced by Tat-activated CDK9 activity. We conclude that phosphorylation of the RNA polymerase II CTD by CDK9 enhances transcription elongation directly.

scholarly journals Tat Modifies the Activity of CDK9 To Phosphorylate Serine 5 of the RNA Polymerase II Carboxyl-Terminal Domain during Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Transcription

2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (14) ◽  
pp. 5077-5086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meisheng Zhou ◽  
Matthew A. Halanski ◽  
Michael F. Radonovich ◽  
Fatah Kashanchi ◽  
Junmin Peng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Transcriptional Elongation ◽  
Preinitiation Complex ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Carboxyl Terminal ◽  
Rnap Ii ◽  
Hiv 1 ◽  
Ctd Phosphorylation

ABSTRACT Tat stimulates human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transcriptional elongation by recruitment of carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) kinases to the HIV-1 promoter. Using an immobilized DNA template assay, we have analyzed the effect of Tat on kinase activity during the initiation and elongation phases of HIV-1 transcription. Our results demonstrate that cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CDK7) (TFIIH) and CDK9 (P-TEFb) both associate with the HIV-1 preinitiation complex. Hyperphosphorylation of the RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) CTD in the HIV-1 preinitiation complex, in the absence of Tat, takes place at CTD serine 2 and serine 5. Analysis of preinitiation complexes formed in immunodepleted extracts suggests that CDK9 phosphorylates serine 2, while CDK7 phosphorylates serine 5. Remarkably, in the presence of Tat, the substrate specificity of CDK9 is altered, such that the kinase phosphorylates both serine 2 and serine 5. Tat-induced CTD phosphorylation by CDK9 is strongly inhibited by low concentrations of 5,6-dichloro-1-β-d-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole, an inhibitor of transcription elongation by RNAP II. Analysis of stalled transcription elongation complexes demonstrates that CDK7 is released from the transcription complex between positions +14 and +36, prior to the synthesis of transactivation response (TAR) RNA. In contrast, CDK9 stays associated with the complex through +79. Analysis of CTD phosphorylation indicates a biphasic modification pattern, one in the preinitiation complex and the other between +36 and +79. The second phase of CTD phosphorylation is Tat-dependent and TAR-dependent. These studies suggest that the ability of Tat to increase transcriptional elongation may be due to its ability to modify the substrate specificity of the CDK9 complex.

scholarly journals Spt5 Cooperates with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Tat by Preventing Premature RNA Release at Terminator Sequences

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1079-1093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cyril F. Bourgeois ◽  
Young Kyeung Kim ◽  
Mark J. Churcher ◽  
Michelle J. West ◽  
Jonathan Karn
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽  
Virus Type ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Transcription Elongation ◽  
Elongation Factor ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus

ABSTRACT The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Tat protein activates transcription elongation by stimulating the Tat-activated kinase (TAK/p-TEFb), a protein kinase composed of CDK9 and its cyclin partner, cyclin T1. CDK9 is able to hyperphosphorylate the carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of the large subunit of RNA polymerase during elongation. In addition to TAK, the transcription elongation factor Spt5 is required for the efficient activation of transcriptional elongation by Tat. To study the role of Spt5 in HIV transcription in more detail, we have developed a three-stage Tat-dependent transcription assay that permits the isolation of active preinitiation complexes, early-stage elongation complexes, and Tat-activated elongation complexes. Spt5 is recruited in the transcription complex shortly after initiation. After recruitment of Tat during elongation through the transactivation response element RNA, CDK9 is activated and induces hyperphosphorylation of Spt5 in parallel to the hyperphosphorylation of the CTD of RNA polymerase II. However, immunodepletion experiments demonstrate that Spt5 is not required for Tat-dependent activation of the kinase. Chase experiments using the Spt5-depleted extracts demonstrate that Spt5 is not required for early elongation. However, Spt5 plays an important role in late elongation by preventing the premature dissociation of RNA from the transcription complex at terminator sequences and reducing the amount of polymerase pausing at arrest sites, including bent DNA sequences. This novel biochemical function of Spt5 is analogous to the function of NusG, an elongation factor found in Escherichia coli that enhances RNA polymerase stability on templates and shows sequence similarity to Spt5.

scholarly journals Tat Activates Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Transcriptional Elongation Independent of TFIIH Kinase

1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 2863-2871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Chen ◽  
Qiang Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽  
Virus Type ◽  
Kinase Activity ◽  
Transcriptional Elongation ◽  
Transactivation Domain ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Hiv 1

ABSTRACT Tat stimulates human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transcriptional elongation by recruitment of the human transcription elongation factor P-TEFb, consisting of Cdk9 and cyclin T1, to the HIV-1 promoter via cooperative binding to the nascent HIV-1 transactivation response RNA element. The Cdk9 kinase activity has been shown to be essential for P-TEFb to hyperphosphorylate the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II and mediate Tat transactivation. Recent reports have shown that Tat can also interact with the multisubunit transcription factor TFIIH complex and increase the phosphorylation of CTD by the Cdk-activating kinase (CAK) complex associated with the core TFIIH. These observations have led to the proposal that TFIIH and P-TEFb may act sequentially and in a concerted manner to promote phosphorylation of CTD and increase polymerase processivity. Here, we show that under conditions in which a specific and efficient interaction between Tat and P-TEFb is observed, only a weak interaction between Tat and TFIIH that is independent of critical amino acid residues in the Tat transactivation domain can be detected. Furthermore, immunodepletion of CAK under high-salt conditions, which allow CAK to be dissociated from core-TFIIH, has no effect on either basal HIV-1 transcription or Tat activation of polymerase elongation in vitro. Therefore, unlike the P-TEFb kinase activity that is essential for Tat activation of HIV-1 transcriptional elongation, the CAK kinase associated with TFIIH appears to be dispensable for Tat function.

scholarly journals Nuclear Targeting of Protein Phosphatase-1 by HIV-1 Tat Protein

2005 ◽  
Vol 280 (43) ◽  
pp. 36364-36371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatyana Ammosova ◽  
Marina Jerebtsova ◽  
Monique Beullens ◽  
Bart Lesage ◽  
Angela Jackson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Protein Phosphatase ◽  
Protein Phosphatase 1 ◽  
Tat Protein ◽  
Nuclear Targeting ◽  
Cyclin T1 ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Hiv 1

Transcription of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 genes is activated by HIV-1 Tat protein, which induces phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase-II by CDK9/cyclin T1. We previously showed that Tat-induced HIV-1 transcription is regulated by protein phosphatase-1 (PP1). In the present study we demonstrate that Tat interacts with PP1 and that disruption of this interaction prevents induction of HIV-1 transcription. We show that PP1 interacts with Tat in part through the binding of Val36 and Phe38 of Tat to PP1 and that Tat is involved in the nuclear and subnuclear targeting of PP1. The PP1 binding mutant Tat-V36A/F38A displayed a decreased affinity for PP1 and was a poor activator of HIV-1 transcription. Surprisingly, Tat-Q35R mutant that had a higher affinity for PP1 was also a poor activator of HIV-1 transcription, because strong PP1 binding competed out binding of Tat to CDK9/cyclin T1. Our results suggest that Tat might function as a nuclear regulator of PP1 and that interaction of Tat with PP1 is critical for activation of HIV-1 transcription by Tat.

scholarly journals TFIIH functions in regulating transcriptional elongation by RNA polymerase II in Xenopus oocytes.

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 3291-3299 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Y Yankulov ◽  
M Pandes ◽  
S McCracken ◽  
D Bouchard ◽  
D L Bentley
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽  
Xenopus Oocytes ◽  
Transcriptional Elongation ◽  
Pol Ii ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus

We investigated the role of TFIIH in transcription by RNA polymerase II (pol II) in vivo by microinjection of antibodies against this factor into Xenopus oocytes. Five different antibodies directed against four subunits of TFIIH were tested for effects on transcription of coinjected human immunodeficiency virus type 2 and c-myc templates. Each of these antibodies severely reduced the efficiency of elongation through human immunodeficiency virus type 2 and c-myc terminator elements. In contrast, an anti-TFIIB antibody did not inhibit elongation. Anti-TFIIH antibodies also had a much smaller inhibitory effect on total transcription than did anti-TFIIB or anti-pol II large subunit. Three inhibitors of TFIIH kinase activity, H-7, H-8, and dichlororibofuranosylbenzimidazole (DRB), inhibited elongation similarly to anti-TFIIH antibodies. These results strongly suggest a role for TFIIH in the stimulation of transcriptional elongation in vivo.

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