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J Biol Chem, Vol. 275, Issue 15, 11154-11163, April 14, 2000
Cell Type-specific E2F Activation and Cell Cycle Progression
Induced by the Oncogene Product Tax of Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type
I*
Kiyoshi
Ohtani ,
Ritsuko
Iwanaga ,
Masaaki
Arai§,
Yongping
Huang ,
Yuuki
Matsumura , and
Masataka
Nakamura ¶
From the Human Gene Sciences Center and the
§ Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Tokyo
Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 113-8510, Japan
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ABSTRACT |
The transactivator protein Tax of human T-cell
leukemia virus type I plays an important role in the development of
adult T-cell leukemia probably through modulation of growth regulatory
molecules including p16INK4a. The molecular mechanism
of leukemogenesis induced by Tax has yet to be elucidated. We analyzed
Tax function in the cell cycle using an interleukin-2
(IL-2)-dependent human T-cell line (Kit 225) that can
undergo cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase by
deprivation of IL-2. Tax activated endogenous E2F activity in
IL-2-starved Kit 225 cells, resulting in activation of E2F
site-carrying promoters of genes involved in G1 to S phase
transition in a cell type-dependent and
p16INK4a-independent manner. The ability of Tax mutants to
activate E2F coincided with that to activate nuclear factors B and
AT, sole expression of which, however, did not activate E2F, suggesting involvement of another pathway in activation of E2F. Introduction of
Tax by a recombinant adenovirus induced cell cycle progression to
G2/M phase in resting Kit 225 cells accompanied by
endogenous cyclin D2 gene expression. Similarly, Tax-induced cell cycle
progression was seen with peripheral blood lymphocytes prestimulated
with phytohemagglutinin. Analyses with Tax mutants did not allow
Tax-induced cell cycle progression to be differentiated from
Tax-dependent activation of E2F, suggesting that Tax
induces cell cycle progression presumably through activation of E2F.
Nevertheless, infection with an E2F1-expressing virus, which is
sufficient for induction of S phase in serum-starved fibroblasts, was
not sufficient for either E2F activation or cell cycle progression in
IL-2-starved Kit 225 cells, implying differential regulation of E2F
activation and cell cycle progression in T-cells that is activated by Tax.
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INTRODUCTION |
Human T-cell leukemia virus type I
(HTLV-I)1 is the etiological
agent of adult T-cell leukemia (1-3) and HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical paraparesis (4, 5). There are several lines of
evidence indicating that Tax encoded by HTLV-I plays critical roles in
leukemogenesis. Introduction of the Tax gene causes
persistent growth of primary T-cells in vitro, a process dependent on interleukin-2 (IL-2) (6, 7), and induction of tumors and
leukemia in mice in vivo (8, 9).
Tax was initially identified as a trans-acting
transcriptional activator of the HTLV-I promoter in the long terminal
repeat (10-12). Subsequent studies demonstrated the ability of Tax to transactivate transcription of cellular genes involved in cell growth
signaling. These include genes for growth factors/cytokines (13-16),
growth factor receptors (17-19), cell adhesion molecules (20-23),
cytoplasmic signal transmitters (24), and nuclear transcription factors
(25-27). Modulation of expression of these genes is thought to be
mainly a consequence of Tax-induced activation of enhancer elements for
transcription factors, e.g. cAMP-responsive element-binding factor (CREB), serum-responsive factor (SRF), and nuclear factor (NF)- B, which have been shown to be physically associated with Tax
(28-37). In addition, Tax is known to bind molecules containing ankyrin motifs such as I B and p16INK4a, which are
inhibitors of NF- B and cyclin D-dependent kinases, respectively (38-40). These findings indicate that Tax is a potential oncoprotein that induces tumor development presumably through aberrant
expression of genes related to growth signaling. However, it is not
clear how Tax-induced modulation of expression of growth signal genes
is involved in promotion of cell proliferation.
Progression through G1 and into S phase is controlled by
G1 cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), including
cyclin D- and cyclin E-dependent kinases. One of the roles
of these kinases in G1/S progression is phosphorylation of
the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein pRb and its family members,
consequently activating the transcription factor E2F. E2F plays crucial
roles in G1/S progression by regulating a variety of genes
whose products are involved in cell cycle progression and DNA
replication. The ability of Tax to bind and to inhibit
p16INK4a activity suggested involvement of Tax in cell
cycle progression. During the course of our study, we have learned of
the stimulation of CDK activity and cell cycle progression by Tax in
two recent reports. Schmitt et al. (41) obtained the results
with an IL-2-dependent T-cell line expressing Tax in the
presence of IL-2, thus providing the possibility that the CDK
activation and cell cycle progression observed are mediated by
stimulation with IL-2. Moreover, Neuveut et al. (42) used
the Tax-inducible T-cell line JPX-9, which we established, whose cell
cycle progression is growth factor-independent and fails to be arrested
by deprivation of serum with our JPX-9 cell line. Similarly, the
effects of Tax on E2F-mediated transcription have been analyzed in a
growth factor-independent T-cell line with exogenously introduced E2F1
and E2F4 (43). These cells are strongly resistant to arrest at
G0/G1 phase by serum deprivation; thus, it is
hard to determine the details of the effect of Tax on cell cycle
progression and activation of E2F.
To determine the true function of Tax in the cell cycle, it is crucial
to examine the effects of Tax on resting human T-cells. For this, we
utilized an IL-2-dependent human T-cell line that can be
made quiescent by deprivation of IL-2. Our data clearly show that
expression of Tax in the IL-2-deprived cells activated endogenous E2F
activity, consequently activating a variety of S phase genes with E2F
sites depending on the ability of Tax to activate NF- B and NF-AT and
independently of p16INK4a. In addition, using recombinant
adenovirus expressing Tax, we show that expression of Tax in the
resting cells indeed drove cells into S phase depending on the ability
of Tax to activate E2F. More important, this effect of Tax was also
observed in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs), but not in
fibroblasts, indicating the cell type-specific ability of Tax to induce
E2F activation and cell cycle progression.
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EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
Cell Culture--
The IL-2-dependent human T-cell
line Kit 225 (44) was maintained in RPMI 1640 medium containing 10%
fetal calf serum (FCS) and 0.5 nM IL-2 (Ajinomoto,
Yokohama, Japan). The HTLV-I-carrying human T-cell line MT-2 (45) and
HTLV-I-unrelated MOLT-4 (46) cells were maintained in RPMI 1640 medium
containing 10% FCS. The rat embryonic fibroblast cell line REF52 (47)
was maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing 10%
FCS. PBLs were isolated by density gradient using Ficoll-Paque PLUS
(Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) and cultured in RPMI 1640 medium
containing 20% FCS with phytohemagglutinin (PHA).
Plasmids--
The reporter plasmids pE2WTx4-Luc and pE2MTx4-Luc
were generated by the subcloning, into the BglII site of the
pGL2 promoter (Promega), of BglII fragments from pE2WTx4-CAT
and pE2MTx4-CAT, which carried four tandem repeats of the adenovirus E2
enhancer with two copies of wild-type or mutant E2F-binding sites (48), respectively. p B-Luc, pWT-Luc, pLTR-Luc, pNF-AT-Luc, and pCArG-Luc have been described elsewhere (38, 49-51). A series of expression vectors based on the human -actin promoter for Tax (pMT-2Tax) and
its mutants (TaxSH2, TaxM22, TaxSH1, Tax703, Taxd3, and Tax410) were
described previously (52). pH APr-1-neo was used as a control vector
(53). The adenovirus major late promoter-driven expression vector
pMT-2T-p65 for the p65 component of NF- B was described previously
(54). pMT-2T (55) was used as a control vector. Luciferase reporter
plasmids containing DNA polymerase , thymidine kinase, thymidylate
synthetase, carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase/aspartate carbamoyltransferase/dihydroorotase, and c-myc promoters
were generously provided by Dr. P. Fahrnam. The luciferase reporter plasmid containing the cyclin A promoter ( 7300 to +245), pALUC, was a
kind gift from Dr. C. Brechot (56). The luciferase reporter plasmids
pHsOrc1-Luc( 1053), pHsOrc1-Luc(E2F-), pHsCdc6-Luc( 570), pHsMCM5-LUC( 1384), pHsMCM6-Luc( 754), pE2F1-LUC( 728),
pE2F1-LUC(E2F-), pE2F2-luc, pE2F2-luc( E2F), and pCycE-Luc( 207) were
described previously (57-62).
For generation of a luciferase reporter plasmid with the human cyclin
D2 promoter, the SacI-NcoI fragment of
5'-flanking sequences of human cyclin D2 cDNA was subcloned into
the SacI-NcoI sites generated by insertion of an
NcoI linker into the EcoRV site of pBluescript
SK (Stratagene). To remove the ATG initiation codon that
overlaps the NcoI recognition site, the plasmid was
religated after cutting with NcoI, followed by digestion
with mung bean nuclease. The SacI-HindIII
fragment was cut out and cloned into the
SacI-HindIII sites of pGL2-Basic (Promega),
generating pCycD2-Luc( 1624). Similarly, a human cyclin D3
promoter-driven luciferase plasmid was generated by cloning of the
AvaI fragment of 5'-flanking sequences of human cyclin D3
cDNA into the EcoRV site of pBluescript SK
after blunting by Klenow enzyme treatment. The
KpnI-XbaI fragment was isolated and inserted into
the KpnI-NheI sites of pGL2-Basic, generating
pCycD3-Luc( 1319). Sequencing of these fragments identified nucleotide
substitutions at nucleotides 885 (G to C), 1583 (G to C), and
1584 (C to G) in the cyclin D2 promoter and a nucleotide substitution
at nucleotide 51 (T to C) and nucleotide insertions of C between
nucleotides 80 and 81 and of G between nucleotides 318 and 319
in the cyclin D3 promoter, respectively, compared with sequences
published previously (63).
Transfection Assay--
Expression plasmids and reporter
plasmids were introduced into asynchronously growing Kit 225 cells
using the DEAE-dextran method as described previously (64). Cells were
cultured in the absence of IL-2 for 48 h, and luciferase
activities were measured as described previously (65). Due to
transactivation of commonly used viral promoters (SV40,
cytomegalovirus, and Rous sarcoma virus) by HTLV-I Tax in Kit 225 cells, it was difficult to design an internal control, and accordingly,
luciferase activity was adjusted by protein content. All assays were
performed at least three times in duplicate, and means ± S.D. are presented.
Northern Blotting and Reverse Transcription-PCR
Assays--
Total RNA extraction and poly(A)+ RNA
purification were carried out using Isogen (Nippon Gene) and PolyATact
(Promega), respectively, according to the protocol recommended by the
manufacturers. Gel electrophoresis, transfer onto nylon membranes, and
hybridization were performed as described previously (57). The probe
for the cyclin D2 gene was the HindIII-XbaI
fragment from pRc/RSV-neo containing the murine cyclin D2 cDNA
(57). Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase cDNA was used as a
control probe. The blot was exposed to an imaging plate and analyzed
with a BAS1500 image analyzer (Fuji Film).
Analyses of two distinctive products from the CDKN2A locus
of Kit 225 and REF52 cells were performed by reverse transcription-PCR. mRNAs from Kit 225 and REF52 cells were reverse-transcribed with primers 5'-CCTCCCGGGCAGCGTCGTG-3' and 5'-CCGTGGAGGAGCAACAGC-3', corresponding to sequences in human and rat p16INK4a exon
2, respectively. PCR amplification of the products was performed with
appropriate primer sets: 5'-CGGGGTCGGGTAGAGGAGGTG-3' and 5'-ACGGGTCGGGTGAGAGTGG-3' for human p16INK4a,
5'-CCGCCGCGAGTGAGGGTTTT-3' and 5'-ACGGGTCGGGTGAGAGTGG-3' for human
p14ARF, 5'-AAGGCCGGCGGAGGACCATTTCTG-3' and
5'-GCGCTGCCCATCATCAT-3' for rat p16INK4a, and
5'-CATGG(T/G)(G/T)CGCAGGTTCTTGGT-3' and 5'-GCGCTGCCCATCATCAT-3' for rat
p19ARF, respectively. The products were electrophoresed on
a 2% agarose gel and visualized by ethidium bromide staining.
Infection with Recombinant Adenoviruses--
The recombinant
adenovirus for expression of E2F1 (Ad-E2F1) and the control virus
(Ad-Con; previously Ad-CMV) have been described previously (66). The
recombinant adenovirus for expression of Tax (AxCAIY-Tax) and its
mutant derivatives Taxd3 (67) (AxCAIY-Taxd3) and Taxd17/5 (67)
(AxCAIY-Taxd17/5) were generated by the cosmid-terminal protein complex
method (68-70) and kindly provided by Dr. M. Yoshida (University of
Tokyo). For cell cycle analysis, 1.5 × 107 Kit 225 cells were starved of IL-2 for 48 h and infected with the
recombinant adenoviruses at multiples of 100 plaque-forming units/cell
in 1 ml of RPMI 1640 medium for 1 h at 37 °C. PBLs were
stimulated with PHA for 72 h, washed out, cultured in the absence
of IL-2 for 24 h, and infected with the recombinant adenoviruses under the same conditions. Cells were further cultured in the absence
of IL-2 for 48 h or 24, 72, and 120 h, respectively, and analyzed for DNA content by flow cytometry. For Northern blot analysis,
1 × 108 Kit 225 cells starved of IL-2 for 48 h
were infected with the recombinant adenoviruses at multiples of 100 plaque-forming units/cell in 7 ml of RPMI 1640 medium for 1 h at
37 °C. Cells were further cultured under IL-2 starvation for 17 h and harvested for RNA isolation. Mock-infected cells cultured in the
presence of IL-2 were used as a positive control.
Tax Expression and DNA Content Analysis--
Cells were fixed
with 1× fluorescence-activated cell sorter lysis solution (Becton
Dickinson) for 10 min at room temperature and permeabilized with 1 ml
of fluorescence-activated cell sorter permeabilization solution (Becton
Dickinson) for 10 min. After washing with phosphate-buffered saline
containing 0.5% bovine serum albumin, the cells were stained with
biotin-conjugated anti-Tax monoclonal antibody (Lt-4; 5 µg/ml) (71)
for 1 h and streptavidin-fluorescein isothiocyanate (1 µg/ml; Pharmingen) for 30 min. For cell cycle analysis, the cells
were resuspended for 30 min in the staining solution containing
propidium iodide (50 µg/ml) and RNase (50 µg/ml). Cell samples were
analyzed with a FACScan (Becton Dickinson).
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RESULTS |
Activation of Cell Cycle Regulatory Genes by HTLV-I Tax--
To
examine the effects of HTLV-I Tax on cell cycle progression, we first
performed transient transfection assays with luciferase reporter
plasmids carrying promoters of genes related to cell cycle progression
(the promoters of the E2F1 and E2F2 genes and the HsOrc1
gene) based on their involvement in cell cycle progression through
induction of transcription of a set of genes essential for
G1/S phase transition and regulation of the initiation of DNA replication in S phase (72, 73). The human T-cell line Kit 225 was
used as a host cell line. Growth of these cells was IL-2-dependent, and culture in IL-2-depleted medium for
48 h caused cells to become quiescent, with ~95% of the cell
population being in G0/G1 phase (see Fig.
5A). The reporter plasmids were introduced into Kit 225 cells along with either a Tax expression vector (pMT-2Tax) or a control
vector. During the transfection experiment, Kit 225 cells were depleted
of IL-2 to induce quiescence. Cell lysates were prepared 48 h
post-transfection and examined for luciferase activity to monitor the
promoter activity. Tax expression induced high levels of
HsOrc1, E2F1, and E2F2 promoter activity (Fig. 1A) compared with those cells
without Tax. These results indicate that Tax transactivates the
promoters of the genes related to cell cycle progression.

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Fig. 1.
A, activation of the E2F-binding site by
Tax. Kit 225 cells were transfected with the Tax expression plasmid
pMT-2Tax along with the luciferase reporter plasmids pHsOrc1-Luc,
pE2F1-LUC, pE2F2-luc, and pWTx4-Luc. Cells were further cultured for
48 h without IL-2 and harvested for luciferase activity
measurement. Mutant sequences of E2F-binding sites were also used.
Values are represented as -fold activation over luciferase activity of
cells transfected with the backbone vector pH APr-1-neo used for Tax
expression. B, tax-dependent activation of genes
for G1 to S phase transition. Luciferase reporter plasmids
with upstream regulatory regions of the indicated genes were introduced
along with pMT-2Tax or the backbone vector into Kit 225 cells, and
luciferase activities were determined. WT, wild-type;
Mut, mutant; DHFR, dihydrofolate reductase;
DNA Pol , DNA polymerase ; TK, thymidine
kinase; TS, thymidylate synthetase; CAD,
carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase/aspartate
carbamoyltransferase/dihydroorotase.
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Involvement of E2F Sites in Tax-induced Activation--
A common
feature of HsOrc1, E2F1, and E2F2 promoters is that they all
contain E2F-binding sites, which have been shown to predominantly
function in cell cycle-dependent expression of these genes
(57-59). Thus, Tax was assumed to cause activation of these promoters
through E2F sites. This possibility was tested with E2F-binding site
mutants with 2-base substitutions that abolished E2F binding activity
(57-59). The promoter activity of these mutants (Mut) was similarly
examined following transient transfection into Kit 225 cells. In
contrast to the wild-type (WT) promoters, which showed significant
activation in response to Tax, all mutants failed to respond to Tax
(Fig. 1A). These results clearly indicate that the
E2F-binding sites in the promoter regions mediate Tax function in
transcriptional activation. This was further confirmed by the
observation that artificially synthesized sets of four tandem repeats
(E2WTx4) of the adenovirus E2 enhancer, which has two typical
E2F-binding sites, could be activated by Tax, whereas its mutant
(E2Mutx4) did not show any appreciable enhancement of the promoter
activity in response to Tax (Fig. 1A).
We further examined whether Tax generally transactivates other
promoters containing E2F-binding sites. Several genes induced in
G1 and S phases have been shown to contain E2F-binding
sites in their promoters, including genes for cell cycle regulators (cyclin D2, cyclin E, cyclin A, E2F1, E2F2, and c-MYC), enzymes for DNA
synthesis (dihydrofolate reductase, DNA polymerase , thymidine
kinase, thymidylate synthetase, and carbamoyl-phosphate synthase/aspartate carbamoyltransferase/dihydroorotase), and regulators of initiation of DNA replication (HsOrc1, HsCdc6,
HsMCM5, and HsMCM6). Isolated promoters of these
genes were linked to the luciferase reporter plasmid and introduced
into Kit 225 cells along with the Tax expression vector. As expected,
all promoters exhibited 4-25-fold increases in activity in response to
Tax (Fig. 1B). In contrast, Tax failed to significantly
activate the cyclin D3 promoter, which does not contain recognizable
E2F-binding sites. These results demonstrate that Tax activates the
expression of genes governed by E2F and indicate that Kit 225 cells
possess E2F molecules in an activated form in the presence of Tax,
implying that Tax can generate active E2F molecules.
Cell Line-dependent E2F Site Activation by
Tax--
Tax has been demonstrated to transform rat fibroblast cell
lines in vitro as well as to induce autonomous growth of
normal T-cells in the presence of IL-2. Based on these findings, it was of interest to determine whether Tax induces activation of the E2F-binding site in rat fibroblast cell lines. Reporter plasmids carrying HsOrc1 and E2F1 gene promoters were transfected
into rat embryonic fibroblast REF52 cells. Transfected cells were
deprived of serum for 48 h to induce quiescence. Surprisingly, no
activation of the two promoters was seen in the rat cell line (Fig.
2A). Furthermore, four tandem
repeats (E2WTx4) of the adenovirus E2 enhancer did not result in
activation by Tax transfected into rat embryonic fibroblasts. In
contrast, the HTLV-I promoter containing the CREB/ATF-binding site and
the NF- B-binding site, used as controls, resulted in marked
activation of the promoter activity by Tax in the same cell line,
confirming the functional expression of Tax in these cells. Similar
results were obtained with another rat fibroblast cell line, Rat1 (data
not shown). These results suggest that Tax-induced activation of
E2F-binding sites is cell line-dependent.

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Fig. 2.
A, cell line-dependent
activation of E2F by HTLV-I. The luciferase reporter plasmids pLTR-Luc,
p B-Luc, pHsOrc1-Luc, pE2F1-LUC, and pWTx4-Luc, were transfected
along with pMT-2Tax or the backbone vector into either Kit 225 or REF52
cells. After 48-h cultures of Kit 225 and REF52 cells without IL-2 and
FCS, respectively, cell lysates were examined for luciferase
activities. LTR, long terminal repeat B,
p16INK4a-independent activation of E2F by Tax. Expression
of the two alternatively spliced products (p16INK4a
(upper panels) and ARF (lower panels)) from the
CDKN2A locus was examined by reverse transcription-PCR using
total RNA derived from Kit 225 (left panels) and REF52
(right panels) cells. Arrows indicate specific
products, which were confirmed by sequence analysis. Asyn.,
asynchronous.
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Tax has been demonstrated to bind and to inhibit p16INK4a,
an inhibitor of cyclin D-dependent kinases (39, 40). We
examined whether Kit 225 and REF52 cells express p16INK4a.
Northern blot analysis with p16INK4a cDNA as a probe
showed a single 2.3-kb band in Kit 225 cells in the presence or absence
of IL-2 (data not shown). Recently, it was reported that the
CDKN2A locus generates two distinct transcripts for
p16INK4a and ARF derived from alternative first exons E1
and E1 , respectively (74-77). To discriminate between these
transcripts, reverse transcription-PCR with sets of primers specific
for p16INK4a and ARF was performed. As shown in Fig.
2B, a PCR-amplified band from the transcript for ARF, but
not for p16INK4a, was detected in Kit 225 cells during both
growth and quiescent stages, indicating that Kit 225 cells express only
ARF. The same PCR examination revealed that REF52 cells expressed both
transcripts for p16INK4a and ARF. These results suggest
that Tax-dependent activation of the E2F-binding site is
independent of p16INK4a.
Tax Mutants and Activation of E2F-binding Sites--
Tax mutants
are categorized into at least three groups based on their ability to
activate target elements: NF- B-, SRF-, and CREB/ATF-binding sites.
In addition, Tax was recently shown to activate the NF-AT-binding site
(78-80). To gain further insight into the molecular mechanism of
Tax-mediated E2F activation, we examined the ability of Tax mutants to
transactivate E2F-binding sites. A luciferase reporter plasmid with the
four tandem repeats (E2WTx4) of the adenovirus E2 enhancer was
transfected in combination with Tax mutant expression vectors into Kit
225 cells. Reporter constructs with the HTLV-I 21-base pair motif
(CREB/ATF-binding sites), the CArG box (SRF-binding site), the
NF- B-binding site, or the NF-AT-binding site were similarly
transfected as control reporters. Tax mutants TaxSH2, TaxSH1, Tax703,
and Taxd3 were able to activate the E2F-binding site in Kit 225 (Fig.
3). These mutants were also effective in
activation of the NF- B- and NF-AT-binding sites. Tax703 was not,
however, effective in activation of the SRF-binding site (CArG box),
and Taxd3 did not activate CREB/ATF-binding sites. The mutant TaxM22,
which activated CREB/ATF- and SRF-binding sites, could not induce
activation of E2F-, NF- B-, or NF-AT-binding sites. Under our
experimental conditions, Tax mutants capable of activating the E2F site
could not be distinguished from those that activated the NF- B- and
NF-AT-binding sites, suggesting that NF- B and NF-AT transcription
pathways are involved in activation of the E2F-binding site.

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Fig. 3.
Correlation between E2F activation and
NF- B/NF-AT activation by Tax. Kit 225 cells were transfected with expression plasmids for Tax and a series of
Tax mutants along with the luciferase reporter plasmid pE2WTx4-Luc
(E2F-binding site), p B-Luc (NF- B-binding site), pNF-AT-Luc
(NF-AT-binding site), pWT-Luc (HTLV-I 21-base pair motif), or pCArG-Luc
(SRF-binding site). Cells were further cultured for 48 h without
IL-2 and harvested for luciferase activity measurement. RLU,
relative light units; bp, base pair.
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In this context, it was intriguing to examine whether exogenous
expression of subunits of NF- B activates the E2F-binding site. The
E2F-binding site reporter plasmid (E2WTx4) was introduced into
IL-2-depleted Kit 225 cells along with an expression vector for the p65
subunit of NF- B. Introduction of the p65 subunit activated the
authentic NF- B-binding site in a p65 dose-dependent manner, whereas dose-dependent reduction rather than
enhancement of the activity of the E2F-binding sites was observed in
the same cells (Fig. 4). It should be
noted that Kit 225 cells have active NF- B irrespective of the
presence of IL-2. This could explain weak activation of the typical
NF- B site by introduction of the p65 expression vector. It should
also be noted that Tax could not activate the E2F-binding site in rat
fibroblast cell lines in which it could activate the NF- B-binding
site (Fig. 2A). Similarly, introduction of the NF-ATp or
NF-AT4a expression vector did not activate the E2F-binding site (data
not shown). These results suggest that activation of E2F by Tax is
mediated by another pathway that coincides with the pathway that
activates NF- B and NF-AT.

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Fig. 4.
Effect of overexpression of p65 on E2F
activation. Kit 225 cells were transfected with expression plasmid
for the p65 component of NF- B along with the luciferase reporter
plasmid pE2WTx4-Luc or p B-Luc. The total amount of expression vector
DNA was adjusted to 10 µg with the backbone vector. Cells were
further cultured for 48 h without IL-2 and harvested for
luciferase activity measurement. RLU, relative light
units.
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Cell Cycle Progression Induced by HTLV-I
Tax--
Tax-dependent activation of E2F molecules
resulted in induction of expression of genes involved in cell cycle
progression, including genes required for the initiation of DNA
replication and DNA synthesis. Therefore, Tax itself may induce cell
cycle progression far from G1 phase. To assess this
possibility, the G1 to S phase transition was examined by
measuring the DNA contents of Kit 225 cells following expression of
Tax. Tax was expressed in Kit 225 cells by infection with the
recombinant adenovirus AxCAIY-Tax, which has a Tax expression cassette
in place of the E1A and E1B genes. Approximately 65% of the Kit 225 cells treated with the recombinant adenovirus were infected as
determined by flow cytometric analysis of Tax expression (Fig.
5A). Kit 225 cells positive
for Tax showed significant increases in populations of cells in S and
G2/M phases (Fig. 5A). In addition, reduction of
cell numbers in G1 phase was also associated with cells
positive for Tax. In contrast, Tax-negative cells showed no apparent
increases in the number of cells in S and G2/M phases
compared with control virus-infected cells (Ad-Con). The same infection
experiments were carried out with normal PBLs prestimulated with PHA to
examine whether the cell cycle progression induced by Tax is specific to Kit 225, which is an immortalized cell line. After stimulation with
PHA for 72 h, PBLs were cultured without PHA for 24 h and infected with the recombinant adenoviruses. Cells were further cultured
for 24, 72, and 120 h and examined for DNA content. Cells did not
show appreciable changes in population in S and G2/M phases until 24 h after infection with Ad-Tax compared with cells
infected with control virus (Fig. 5B). However, Ad-Tax
infection increased populations of cells in S and G2/M
phases up to 30% at 72 h and 38% at 120 h. In contrast,
populations of cells in S and G2/M phases decreased to 16%
after infection with the control virus at 120 h. These results
indicate that expression of Tax induces cell cycle progression in
PHA-stimulated PBLs.

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Fig. 5.
Tax-induced cell cycle progression.
A, cell cycle progression in Kit 225 cells expressing Tax.
Kit 225 cells IL-2-starved for 48 h were infected with a
recombinant adenovirus expressing Tax (AxCAIY-Tax) or a control virus
(Ad-Con). Cells were further cultured in the absence of IL-2 for
48 h and harvested for staining Tax and DNA with anti-Tax
monoclonal antibody Lt-4 and propidium iodide, respectively. Cells
expressing (M2) or not expressing (M1) Tax were
gated and examined for DNA content with a flow cytometer. B,
cell cycle progression in PHA-PBLs induced by Tax. PBLs were stimulated
with PHA for 3 days and, after washing out PHA, cultured in the absence
of PHA and IL-2 for 24 h. Cells were infected with the recombinant
adenovirus, further cultured for 24, 72, and 120 h, and examined
for DNA content. C, effects of Tax mutants on cell cycle
progression. Kit 225 cells IL-2-starved for 48 h were infected
with the indicated recombinant adenoviruses for Tax expression:
AxCAIY-Tax, AxCAIY-Taxd3, and AxCAIY-Taxd17/5. The recombinant
adenovirus for E2F1 expression and the control virus were also used.
Cells were further cultured in the absence of IL-2 for 48 h and
harvested for staining DNA with propidium iodide, followed by flow
cytometric examination.
|
|
To examine which pathway of Tax-mediated activation is important for
cell cycle progression, we examined the ability of recombinant adenoviruses carrying Tax mutants to promote the cell cycle in Kit 225 cells. Infection with a recombinant adenovirus carrying a mutant
Tax gene (AxCAIY-Taxd3) capable of activating NF- B, SRF,
and NF-AT pathways, but not the CREB/ATF pathway, induced an increase
in the cell populations in S and G2/M phases similar to
cells infected with wild-type Tax recombinant adenovirus (AxCAIY-Tax) (Fig. 5C). Comparable levels of expression of the Tax
proteins were confirmed by Western blot analysis (data not shown). No
significant progression of the cell cycle was, however, seen in Kit 225 cells infected with another Tax mutant-carrying recombinant adenovirus (AxCAIY-Taxd17/5) incapable of activating any of these pathways as
confirmed by reporter assay.
These results demonstrate that Tax can induce progression of the cell
cycle from G1 to S phase and probably to G2/M
phase. The cell cycle progression was seen only with Tax that was able to activate the NF- B-, NF-AT-, and SRF-binding sites, consistent with the ability to activate the E2F-binding site. It should be noted
that no progression of the cell cycle was induced by infection with
Ad-E2F1 (Fig. 5B). This was in contrast to the results
observed in fibroblast cells (81).
Tax-induced Expression of the Endogenous Cyclin D2 Gene--
In
G1 phase of normal T-cell growth, cyclin D2 is predominant
compared with cyclin D1 in fibroblasts. Based on the observation that
the cyclin D2 promoter was transactivated by Tax in the transient transfection assay (Fig. 1), we examined Tax-dependent
activation of the endogenous cyclin D2 gene. Kit 225 cells were
cultured in the absence of IL-2 for 48 h and then infected with
recombinant adenoviruses expressing wild-type or mutant Tax. RNA was
extracted from cells 17 h post-infection, and expression of the
cyclin D2 transcript was monitored by Northern blot hybridization. In
the absence of IL-2, Kit 225 cells infected with a recombinant
adenovirus (AxCAIY-Taxd17/5) incapable of activating any of the known
pathways expressed a very low level of the 1.0-kb transcript for cyclin D2. Introduction of wild-type Tax (AxCAIY-Tax) induced a 4-fold increase in the expression of the 1.0-kb cyclin D2 gene transcript in
the absence of IL-2 (Fig. 6). The cyclin
D2 locus is known to generate at least two transcripts of 1.0 and 7.0 kb. Similar to the 1.0-kb transcript, Tax increased the level of
expression of the 7.0-kb transcript by 2-fold. The level of the cyclin
D2 gene transcript in Tax-expressing cells was approximately half of
that in IL-2-treated cells. This may have been because Kit 225 cells
were infected with AxCAIY-Tax at an efficiency of ~60%. Infection
with another Tax mutant capable of activating the NF- B-, NF-AT-, and
SRF-binding sites (AxCAIY-Taxd3) significantly induced cyclin D2
mRNA expression, the level of which was lower compared with the
wild type. This finding suggests the involvement of the NF- B, NF-AT,
or SRF activation pathway in expression of the cyclin D2 gene
transcript. These results clearly demonstrate that Tax can induce
transcription of the cellular gene encoding cyclin D2 without any other
growth stimulation in Kit 225 cells.

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|
Fig. 6.
Northern blot analysis of expression of the
endogenous cyclin D2 gene in response to Tax. Kit 225 cells
depleted of IL-2 for 48 h were infected with the indicated
recombinant adenoviruses with the Tax expression cassettes. Cellular
RNA was extracted from Kit 225 cells restimulated with IL-2, and cells
infected with the recombinant adenoviruses Ad-Taxd17/5, Ad-Taxd3, and
Ad-Tax. Purified mRNA was subjected to electrophoresis, blotting,
and hybridization with a probe specific for the human cyclin D2
(CycD2) gene and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase
(GAPDH) as a control. Upper and lower
arrows indicate 7.0- and 1.0-kb transcripts, respectively.
|
|
 |
DISCUSSION |
The major finding of this study is that HTLV-I Tax induces cell
cycle progression to G2/M phase in human T-cells arrested at G0/G1 and that this effect is, at least in
part, mediated through the activation of E2F. In this study, we used a
human T-cell line, Kit 225. Growth of these cells is absolutely
dependent on IL-2; and thus, they could be easily induced to the
resting or G0/G1 state by depletion of IL-2.
Approximately 95% of Kit 225 cells were at
G0/G1 phase 48 h after IL-2 starvation,
and little or no apoptosis was observed, unlike the mouse
IL-2-dependent T-cell line CTLL-2, which showed apoptosis
as early as 6 h after IL-2 depletion (82). In a series of
preliminary experiments, we used the IL-2-independent human T-cell line
JPX-9, which we have established previously to be a derivative of the
human T-cell line Jurkat, which could express Tax upon induction (26).
However, it was difficult to make JPX-9 or Jurkat cells pass into a
quiescent stage. Under our experimental conditions, withdrawal of serum even for 36 h did not cause cell cycle arrest at
G0/G1 phase (data not shown), which is
inconsistent with recently reported observations (42). PHA-stimulated
PBLs are the same as JPX-9 cells in that growth factor deprivation is
not sufficient to make cells arrest at G0/G1
phase. Nevertheless, an increase in the population in S and
G2/M phases of PHA-stimulated PBLs by Tax is significant. Based on these results together with the observations obtained with Kit
225 cells, we conclude that Tax induces cell cycle progression, although further studies to elucidate the molecular mechanisms associated with Tax-induced cell cycle progression in PHA-stimulated PBLs are needed.
Two groups have used normal T-cells as hosts for Tax expression (6, 7,
41). In these studies, infection with recombinant herpesvirus or
retrovirus was performed to overcome the low efficiency of Tax delivery
to primary human T-cells. In both cases, growth of T-cells became
IL-2-dependent presumably due to the constitutive expression of functional IL-2 receptor, which is induced by
Tax-mediated transactivation of genes for receptor subunits (17-19).
Nevertheless, no IL-2-independent growth was observed with T-cells
infected with Tax-expressing viruses. Considering our observation that Tax was able to induce cell cycle progression in
IL-2-dependent T-cells in the absence of IL-2, Tax may be
involved in two different steps in different ways, finally resulting in
IL-2-independent growth of primary T-cells through the
IL-2-dependent state. Tax-induced escape from
IL-2-dependent growth may reflect the final step of development of adult T-cell leukemia. Thus, elucidation of the molecular mechanism of this step is important for a full understanding of HTLV-I-infected T-cell transformation.
CTLL-2 cells failed to activate NF- B in the absence of IL-2,
resulting in apoptosis. We previously reported that constitutive expression of Tax induced IL-2-independent growth of CTLL-2 cells (82).
Tax in CTLL-2 cells induced activation of NF- B in the absence of
IL-2, which is involved in the prevention of apoptosis necessary for
IL-2-independent growth of CTLL-2 cells. In contrast, the active form
of NF- B is present in Kit 225 cells irrespective of the presence of
IL-2 and/or Tax; and thus, apoptosis is prevented for at least 36 h after IL-2 depletion. Tax expression is thus thought to be necessary
for growth stimulation in addition to prevention of apoptosis through
activation of NF- B. Kit 225 cells therefore seem to be adequate for
studying the cell cycle progression associated with Tax expression
without interference by autonomous cell cycle progression and apoptosis.
We demonstrated Tax-dependent activation of the E2F-binding
sites in Kit 225 cells depleted of IL-2. There was no appreciable activation of the E2F-binding site when the reporter plasmid and Tax
expression plasmid were separately transfected, followed by mixing the
cells together, indicating that activation of the E2F-binding site is
not mediated by activation of growth factor genes such as IL-2 by Tax
(data not shown). Furthermore, cell cycle progression in IL-2-starved
Kit 225 cells was observed only in Tax-expressing cells (Fig.
5A). We thus concluded that the E2F-binding site activation and cell cycle progression induced by Tax are mediated by intracellular events intrinsic to T-cells. In contrast to the activation in Kit 225 cells, Tax could not activate E2F-binding sites in rat fibroblast cell
lines (Fig. 2). Tax may show species-specific activation. However, this
seems unlikely because Tax activated the CREB and NF- B transcription
pathways in these cell lines. Activation of E2F-binding sites by Tax
may be cell line-dependent.
In agreement with the previous observation that HTLV-I-infected cells
and adult T-cell leukemia cells contain high levels of E2F that binds
to E2F-binding sites (83), our results indicate that Tax activates
endogenous E2F activity in Kit 225 cells. During the course of our
study, enhancement of E2F-mediated transcription by Tax was
independently reported with a growth factor-independent human T-cell
line, CEM (43). It was shown that Tax-dependent augmentation of exogenously introduced E2F1 activity and Tax-mediated trans-activation of the E2F1 promoter required the ability of Tax to
transactivate the CREB transcription pathway, but did not require its
ability to transactivate the NF- B transcription pathway. This is in
marked contrast to our observation that the NF- B-activating ability
of Tax is associated with activation of endogenous E2F activity and
that trans-activation of the E2F1 promoter by Tax is largely mediated
through E2F. Differences between the two studies might be due to
differences in the cell lines and assay conditions used; they assayed
the effects of Tax on exogenously introduced E2F1 in a growth
factor-independent T-cell line in the growing state, whereas we
examined the effects of Tax on endogenous E2F activity in an
IL-2-dependent T-cell line at G0/G1
arrest. We observed the same results with another
IL-2-dependent human T-cell line, TY8-3 (data not shown).
Consistent with transactivation of the cyclin D2 promoter by Tax in the
transient transfection assay, endogenous cyclin D2 gene expression was
induced in Kit 225 cells infected with recombinant Tax-expressing
adenoviruses (Fig. 6). The endogenous cyclin D2 gene expression by Tax
may contribute to Tax-mediated activation of CDK4 and CDK6 in addition
to physical interaction between Tax and cyclin D3 molecules, as
recently reported (42). Our results did not demonstrate any appreciable
increase in transcription of cyclin D3 in the transient transfection
assay. These results may explain the previous observations that
HTLV-I-transformed T-cell lines expressed high levels of cyclin D2 and
very low levels of cyclin D3 (84).
In addition to these scenarios, Tax-dependent E2F
activation may be mediated by suppression of cyclin D/CDK4 and CDK6
inhibitors belonging to the INK4 family. Earlier studies demonstrated
that Tax binds to and inhibits p16INK4a (39, 40). This
suppressive effect of Tax on the inhibitor may mediate activation of
E2F through the relief of suppression of cyclin D/CDK4 and CDK6
activities. In Kit 225 cells, however, we confirmed no expression of
p16INK4a, as also reported recently by Stott et
al. (85). It is of interest to note that Tax did not activate E2F
in REF52 cells, in which p16INK4a is expressed. These
results indicate that Tax can activate endogenous E2F activity
independently of p16INK4a. This is consistent with a recent
report that Tax can augment exogenously introduced E2F1 activity in a
growth factor-independent human T-cell line negative for
p16INK4a (43).
Our investigation using Tax mutants demonstrated significant
correlations between activation of the cell cycle transcription factor
E2F and signaling pathways associated with transcription factors
NF- B and NF-AT, i.e. Tax mutants that could activate the
NF- B and NF-AT transcription pathways could induce E2F activation. No such correlations were observed between activation of the CREB transcription pathway and E2F activation or between activation of the
SRF transcription pathway and E2F activation. We thus expected that
exogenous expression of NF- B or NF-AT could activate E2F independently of cell cycle progression. The results of introducing the
p65 subunit of NF- B, which enhanced a typical NF- B-binding site
in Kit 225 cells, were opposite to our expectations. The same was true
with c-Rel and a combination of the p65 and p50 subunits of NF- B
(data not shown). Moreover, introduction of an NF-ATp or NF-AT4a
expression vector did not activate E2F activity either (data not
shown). Based on these observations, we speculate that activation of
the NF- B and/or NF-AT transcription pathway may be necessary but not
sufficient for E2F activation. Alternatively, Tax utilizes another
pathway that coincides with the NF- B and NF-AT pathways to activate
E2F and to drive cell cycle progression.
There is sufficient evidence to indicate that E2F is critical for
cell cycle progression through induction of expression of a series
of genes mainly required for G1 and S phases. These genes are categorized into three groups according to the functional properties of their products: regulators of the cell cycle itself such
as members of the cyclin, E2F, and myc families; genes
encoding enzymes essential for DNA synthesis; and molecules that
regulate the initiation of DNA replication, including HsOrc1 and
members of the MCM family. Promoters of these genes have been shown to contain typical E2F-binding sites or related sequences. Our results clearly demonstrated that these promoters with E2F-binding sites were
activated by Tax. As expected from these results, Tax promoted cell
cycle progression in the human T-cell line Kit 225. This is similar to
the observation that introduction of E2F1 into rat fibroblast cell
lines activates a set of these promoters and induces cell cycle
progression (86). However, Kit 225 cells displayed different
characteristics when transfected with E2F; exogenous E2F1-5 did not
activate E2F-binding site-containing promoters (data not shown), and
E2F1 did not induce cell cycle progression (Fig. 5B). In
contrast, Tax activated all promoters tested in the transient
transfection assay and induced cell cycle progression. These results
suggest that Kit 225 cells have a cell type-specific regulatory
mechanism in E2F activation and cell cycle progression distinct from
that in fibroblasts and that Tax has the ability to stimulate the cell
type-specific regulatory pathway(s) to activate E2F and to induce cell
cycle progression.
As Tax induced cell cycle progression, we expected to observe an
increase in the number of Kit 225 cells following introduction of Tax.
No increase was, however, associated with infection with the Tax
recombinant adenovirus (data not shown). Instead, we noted a
time-dependent increase in the number of dead cells after
infection. Overexpression of E2F, typically E2F1, has been shown to
induce not only cell cycle progression, but also apoptosis (87). It is
possible that cell cycle progression in Kit 225 cells induced by Tax
resulted in apoptosis similar to that in rat fibroblast cells forced to
undergo cell cycle progression by overexpression of E2F.
Taken together, our findings indicate different regulatory mechanisms
involved in E2F activation and cell cycle progression in rat fibroblast
cells compared with human T-cells, further suggesting the involvement
of Tax in a cell growth mechanism specific for T-cells. Elucidation of
an as yet unknown Tax-mediated pathway implicated in cell cycle
progression, which is presumably activated by IL-2 (88), may allow the
design of new methods to study tumorigenesis induced by infection with
HTLV-I.
 |
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
We thank C. Brechot, J. Fujisawa, and P. Fahrnam for reporter plasmids; W. C. Greene, T. Kannno,
and K. Matsumoto for expression plasmids; J. Hamuro and T. Shimamura
for IL-2; Y. Tanaka for Lt-4 antibody; T. Uchiyama for Kit 225 cells;
and M. Yoshida for recombinant adenoviruses.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
*
This work was supported in part by a grant-in-aid for
general scientific research and cancer research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture; by a grant from the Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST) of the Japan
Science and Technology Corp.; by a grant from the NOVARTIS Foundation
for the Promotion of Science (Japan); and by a grant from the Osaka
Cancer Foundation.The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the
payment of page charges. The article
must therefore be hereby marked
"advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section
1734 solely to indicate this fact.
¶
To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.:
81-3-5803-5795; Tax: 81-3-5803-0234; E-mail:
naka.gene@cmn.tmd.ac.jp.
 |
ABBREVIATIONS |
The abbreviations used are:
HTLV-I, human T-cell
leukemia virus type I;
IL-2, interleukin-2;
CREB, cAMP-responsive
element-binding factor;
SRF, serum-responsive factor;
NF, nuclear
factor;
CDK, cyclin-dependent kinase;
PBLs, peripheral
blood lymphocytes;
FCS, fetal calf serum;
PHA, phytohemagglutinin;
PCR, polymerase chain reaction;
ATF, activating transcription factor;
kb, kilobase(s);
ARF, alternative reading frame.
 |
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