Distinct cis-acting regions in U3 regulate trans-activation of the human spumaretrovirus long terminal repeat by the viral bel1 gene product.

The human spumaretrovirus (HSRV) genome contains, in addition to coding information for the structural proteins, open reading frames (ORFs) for at least three additional genes termed bel1, bel2 and bel3. We report here the localization of the transcriptional activator of HSRV to the bel1 ORF. In reporter-based transient expression assays in COS cells utilizing the bacterial CAT gene linked to HSRV LTR sequences between -710 and +309 with respect to the transcriptional initiation site, co-expression of the bel1 gene product alone caused an over 100 to 300-fold increase in the level of LTR activity. High-level trans-activation by bel1 was specific for the HSRV LTR, as relatively minor positive and negative regulatory effects were observed on HIV-1 LTR and RSV LTR expression, respectively, whereas HTLV-1 LTR activity remained unaffected. Distinct regions of the HSRV LTR were found to be involved in bel1-induced trans-activation. Specifically, deletions between -500 and -389 and between -136 and -62 in the U3 region resulted in a 4- and 30 to 35-fold decline, respectively, in the response to bel1. Limited mutagenesis of the bel1 ORF indicated that most of the bel1 coding region, except for the carboxy-terminal 27 residues, is essential for the activation function.