Reactivation of the Epstein-Barr virus from latency is dependent on expression of the BZLF1 viral immediate-early protein.The BZLF1 promoter (Zp) normally exhibits only low basal activity but is activated in response to chemical inducers such as 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and calcium ionophore. We found that Jun dimerization protein 2 (JDP2) plays a significant role in suppressing Zp activity. Reporter, EMSA, and ChIP assays of a Zp mutant virus revealed JDP2 association with Zp at the ZII cis-element, a binding site for CREB/ATF/AP-1. Suppression of Zp activity by JDP2 correlated with HDAC3 association and reduced levels of histone acetylation. Although introduction of point mutations into the ZII element of the viral genome did not increase the level of BZLF1 production, silencing of endogenous JDP2 gene expression by RNA interference increased the levels of viral early gene products and viral DNA replication. These results indicate that JDP2 plays a role as a repressor of Zp and that its replacement by CREB/ ATF/AP-1 at ZII is crucial to triggering reactivation from latency to lytic replication.The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) 2 is a human ␥-herpesvirus that predominantly establishes latent infection in B lymphocytes. Only a small percentage of infected cells switch from the latent stage into the lytic cycle to produce progeny viruses. Although the mechanism of EBV reactivation in vivo is not fully understood, it is known to be elicited by treatment of latently infected B cells with chemical or biological reagents, such as 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA), calcium ionophore, sodium butyrate, or anti-immunoglobulin, at least in cultured cells. Stimulation of the EBV lytic cascade by any of these leads to expression of two immediate-early genes, BZLF1 and BRLF1.The BZLF1 protein is a transcriptional activator that shares structural similarities to basic leucine zipper (b-Zip) family transcriptional factors and acts as an oriLyt binding protein essential for lytic viral DNA replication. BZLF1 expression alone can trigger the entire reactivation cascade (1-3).Expression of the BZLF1 gene is tightly controlled at the transcriptional level. The BZLF1 promoter (Zp) normally exhibits low basal activity and is activated in response to TPA or the other reagents described above. The minimal sequence of Zp necessary for activation by the inducers is 233 bp in length (4). The region harbors at least three types of cis regulatory elements, referred to as ZI, ZII, and ZIII. Four copies of the ZI element (ZIA-D) are distributed within the minimal Zp. The myocyte enhancer factor 2D binds to ZIA, ZIB, and ZID (5), whereas Sp1 or Sp3 can bind to ZIA, ZIC, and ZID (6). A single ZII element is located near TATA, sharing homology with binding sites for the cyclic AMP-response element-binding protein (CREB), activating transcription factor (ATF), and activator protein-1 (AP-1) family transcriptional factors such as JunB and JunD (7,8). Two copies of the ZIII element (ZIII-A and -B) bind to the BZLF1 protein. Previou...