ALY is a common coactivator of RUNX1 and c-Myb on the type B leukemogenic virus enhancer

Type B leukemogenic virus (TBLV), a mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) variant, often induces T-cell leukemias and lymphomas by c-myc activation following viral DNA integration. Transfection assays using a c-myc reporter plasmid indicated that the TBLV long terminal repeat (LTR) enhancer is necessary for T-cell-specific increases in basal reporter activity. The sequence requirements for this effect were studied using mutations of the 62-bp enhancer region in an MMTV LTR reporter vector. Deletion of a nuclear factor A-binding site dramatically reduced reporter activity in Jurkat T cells. However, a 41-bp enhancer missing the RUNX1 site still retained minimal enhancer function. DNA affinity purification using a TBLV enhancer oligomer containing the RUNX1 binding site followed by mass spectrometry resulted in the identification of ALY. Subsequent experiments focused on the reconstitution of enhancer activity in epithelial cells. ALY overexpression synergized with RUNX1B on TBLV enhancer activity, and synergism required the RUNX1B-binding site. A predicted c-Myb binding site in the enhancer was confirmed after c-myb overexpression elevated TBLV LTR reporter activity, and overexpression of c-Myb and RUNX1B together showed additive effects on reporter gene levels. ALY also synergized with c-Myb, and coimmunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated an interaction between ALY and c-Myb. These experiments suggest a central role for ALY in T-cell enhancer function and oncogene activation.     

A central role for a single c-Myb binding site in a thymic locus control region.

Locus control regions (LCRs) are powerful assemblies of cis elements that organize the actions of cell-type-specific trans-acting factors. A 2.3-kb LCR in the human adenosine deaminase (ADA) gene first intron, which controls expression in thymocytes, is composed of a 200-bp enhancer domain and extended flanking sequences that facilitate activation from within chromatin. Prior analyses have demonstrated that the enhancer contains a 28-bp core region and local adjacent augmentative cis elements. We now show that the core contains a single critical c-Myb binding site. In both transiently cotransfected human cells and stable chromatin-integrated yeast cells, c-Myb strongly transactivated reporter constructs that contained polymerized core sequences. c-Myb protein was strongly evident in T lymphoblasts in which the enhancer was active and was localized within discrete nuclear structures. Fetal murine thymus exhibited a striking concordance of endogenous c-myb expression with that of mouse ADA and human ADA LCR-directed transgene expression. Point mutation of the c-Myb site within the intact 2.3-kb LCR severely attenuated enhancer activity in transfections and LCR activity in transgenic thymocytes. Within the context of a complex enhancer and LCR, c-Myb can act as an organizer of thymocyte-specific gene expression via a single binding site.