The human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 E2 protein (hE2) binds to four sites present upstream of the P97 promoter and regulates transcription of the viral E6 and E7 oncogenes. We have determined the relative binding constants for the interaction of the full-length hE2 protein with these sites. Our results show that hE2 binds tightly to site 4, less tightly to sites 1 and 2, and weakly to site 3. Similar results have previously been obtained using a C-terminal fragment of the hE2 protein suggesting that the C-terminal domain is the sole determinant of DNA binding affinity and specificity. Using circular permutation assays we show that binding of the hE2 protein induces the formation of a significant DNA bend and that the hE2-induced DNA bend angle is the same at both tight and weak hE2-binding sites. An alignment of the four hE2-binding sites from the HPV 16 genome suggests that this protein recognizes an extended binding site when compared with the bovine papillomavirus E2 protein. Here we show that the hE2 protein binds tightly to sites containing an A:T or a G:C base pair at position 7 of its binding site but weakly to sites containing either C:G or T:A at this position. Using site-directed mutagenesis we demonstrate that an arginine at position 304 of the hE2 protein is responsible for the recognition of specific base pairs at this position.The recognition of specific DNA sequences by transcription factors is often the first step in the regulation of gene expression. An understanding of how these proteins recognize their target sequences, and the effect that this has on DNA conformation, is central to the question of how genes are controlled. We are studying the human papillomavirus E2 protein, a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein involved in the regulation of viral gene expression and DNA replication. Papillomaviruses infect epithelial cells and induce the formation of benign hyperproliferative lesions or warts. Over 70 distinct types of human papillomavirus (HPV) 1 have been described. Some of these viral types produce lesions that have the potential to undergo malignant transformation. HPV 16 and HPV 18, for example, are thought to play a primary role in the development of cervical cancer (for a review, see Ref. 1). The products of the viral E6 and E7 genes form complexes with the cellular tumor suppressor proteins p53 and Rb, respectively. These interactions bring about a change in cell growth rate and promote cell immortalization (reviewed in Ref.2). In HPV 16, transcription of the E6 and E7 genes is under the control of a single promoter (P97) that lies immediately upstream of the E6 gene (3). The activity of the P97 promoter is regulated by a variety of cellular transcription factors and by the viral E2 protein (4 -6).Much early work concentrated on the bovine papillomavirus (BPV) E2 protein. The BPV E2 protein (bE2) binds as a dimer to 12 inverted repeats (consensus sequence 5Ј-ACCGN 4 CGGT-3Ј) present upstream of the BPV early genes and activates transcription (7,8). Binding of bE2 protein to DNA is coo...

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