Adenoviral oncoprotein E1B55K mediates colocalization of SSBP2 and PML in response to stress

Transient expression of adenoviral oncoprotein E1B55K in normal cells induces aggresome formation and sequestration of critical host proteins in aggresomes. Our previous studies reported that Sequence Specific Binding Protein 2 (SSBP2), a candidate tumor suppressor is recruited to aggresomes in adenovirally transformed human embryonal kidney 293 (HEK293) cells. To understand the extent and significance of the E1B55K-SSBP2 interactions in these cells, we have examined SSBP2 localization under conditions of stress in HEK293 cells. SSBP2 localizes to PML- Nuclear Bodies (PML-NBs) in response to inhibition of nuclear export, treatment with etoposide, hydroxyurea or gamma irradiation only in HEK293 cells. Furthermore, the PML-NBs grow in size and number in response to radiation over a 24 hour period in HEK293 cells analogous to previous findings for other cell types. Nonetheless, we conclude that E1B55K subverts SSBP2 function in HEK293 cells. These findings demonstrate the limitations in using HEK293 cells to study DNA damage response and other cellular processes since SSBP2 and similar regulatory proteins are aberrantly localized due to constitutive E1B55K expression.