Maintenance of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) oriP-based episomes requires EBV-encoded nuclear antigen-1 chromosome-binding domains, which can be replaced by high-mobility group-I or histone H1
Sc. Hung et al., Maintenance of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) oriP-based episomes requires EBV-encoded nuclear antigen-1 chromosome-binding domains, which can be replaced by high-mobility group-I or histone H1, P NAS US, 98(4), 2001, pp. 1865-1870
Citations number
49
Categorie Soggetti
Multidisciplinary
Journal title
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
EBV-encoded nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1) binding to a cis-acting viral DNA el
ement, oriP, enables plasmids to persist in dividing human cells as multico
py episomes that attach to chromosomes during mitosis, In investigating the
significance of EBNA-1 binding to mitotic chromosomes, we identified the b
asic domains of EBNA-1 within amino acids 1-89 and 323-386 as critical for
chromosome binding. In contrast, the EBNA-1 C terminus (amino acids 379-641
), which includes the nuclear localization signal and DNA-binding domain, d
oes not associate with mitotic chromosomes or retain oriP plasmid DNA in di
viding cell nuclei, but does enable the accumulation of replicated oriP-con
taining plasmid DNA in transient replication assays. The importance of chro
mosome association in episome maintenance was evaluated by replacing EBNA-1
amino acids 1-378 with cell proteins that have similar chromosome binding
characteristics. High-mobility group-1 amino acids 1-90 or histone H1-2 cou
ld substitute for EBNA-1 amino acids 1-378 in mediating more efficient accu
mulation of replicated oriP plasmid, association with mitotic chromosomes,
nuclear retention, and long-term episome persistence. These data strongly s
upport the hypothesis that mitotic chromosome association is a critical fac
tor for episome maintenance, The replacement of 60% of EBNA-1 with cell pro
tein is a significant step toward eliminating the need for noncellular prot
ein sequences in the maintenance of episomal DNA in human cells.