Promoter-Specific Zrans-Activation by the Adenovirus E1A_12S Product Involves Separate E1A Domains

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that the adenovirus E1A_12S product can trans-activate transcription by activating the transcription factor E2F. However, E2F cannot be the only target for the E1A_12S product, since several cellular promoters have been found to be activated by the E1A_12S protein even though they lack E2F sites. Indeed, we now show that activation of the hsp70 promoter by the E1A_12S product requires the TATAA sequence. Moreover, activation of the hsp70 promoter requires the N-terminal domain of the E1A protein and does not require the conserved region 2 sequences which are required for the E2F-dependent activation of transcription. We conclude that the targeting of distinct transcription factors, leading to trans-activation of transcription of multiple promoters, involves distinct domains of the E1A proteins that are also required for oncogenic activity.