Expression of p40/Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 1 binding protein 2

Nucleolar protein p40/EBP2 is a proliferation-associated antigen that inter acts with Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) to maintain the Epst ein-Barr virus (EBV) episomes, The yeast p40/EBP2 functions in the processi ng of 27S-A into 27S-B ribosomal RNA. The present study reports high evolut ionary conservation of the cDNA-derived amino acid sequences of p40/EBP2 fr om frog, chicken, pig, rat, mouse, bovine, and human. p40/EBP2 is ubiquitou sly expressed in human tissues. It is highly expressed in myelogenous leuke mia K-562 compared to other cell lines tested. The human p40/EBP2 gene is l ocated in chromosome 1 with nine exons and eight introns, The minimal promo ter region resides 300 nucleotides upstream of a putative ATG initiation co don preceded by a pyrimidine-rich region. These two regions contain eight S pl and four c-Ets-1 putative binding sites. Analysis of the p40/EBP2 gene a nd its promoter region will facilitate studies on the regulation of its exp ression in EBV-infected and noninfected cells. (C) 2001 Academic Press.