ACTIVATION OF THE HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 LONG TERMINAL REPEAT BY BTEB, A GC BOX-BINDING TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR

BTEB, a GC box-binding transcription factor, was tested for its ability to activate the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 long terminal repeat (HIV-1 LTR). An electrophoretic mobility shift assay demonstrated specific binding of BTEB to GC boxes of the HIV-1 LTR. When a BTEB expression vector was cotransfected into A3.01 cells with a fusion gene of HIV-1 LTR and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) structural gene, the CAT activity was increased. This increase was accompanied by an increase in the content of CAT mRNA. Transcriptional activity of the HIV-1 LTR, stimulated by Tat, was further enhanced by the expression of BTEB. BTEB also activated the LTR activity in cooperation with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. Northern blot analysis showed that various T cell and macrophage/monocyte cell lines expressed the BTEB mRNA to a level comparable with that of Sp1, another GC box-binding transcription factor. These results suggest that BTEB, like Sp1, is involved in transcriptional activation of the HIV-1 LTR.