Binding of human virus oncoproteins to hDlg/SAP97, a mammalian homolog of the Drosophila discs large tumor suppressor protein.

The 9ORF1 gene encodes an adenovirus E4 region oncoprotein that requires a C-terminal region for transforming activity. Screening a lambdagt11 cDNA expression library with a 9ORF1 protein probe yielded a novel cellular PDZ domain-containing protein, 9BP-1, which binds to wild-type, but not a transformation-defective, C-terminal, mutant 9ORF1 protein. The fact that PDZ domains complex with specific sequences at the free C-terminal end of some proteins led to the recognition that the 9ORF1 C-terminal region contained such a consensus-binding motif. This discovery prompted investigations into whether the 9ORF1 protein associates with additional cellular proteins having PDZ domains. It was found that the 9ORF1 protein interacts directly, in vitro and in vivo, with the PDZ domain-containing protein hDlg/SAP97 (DLG), which is a mammalian homolog of the Drosophila discs large tumor suppressor protein and which also binds the adenomatous polyposis coli tumor suppressor protein. Of interest, in forming complexes, the 9ORF1 protein preferentially associated with the second PDZ domain of DLG, similar to adenomatous polyposis coli protein. Human T cell leukemia virus type 1 Tax and most oncogenic human papillomavirus E6 oncoproteins also possessed PDZ domain-binding motifs at their C termini and, significantly, human T cell leukemia virus type 1 Tax and human papillomavirus 18 E6 proteins bound DLG in vitro. Considering the requirement of the 9ORF1 C-terminal region in transformation, these findings suggest that interactions with the cellular factor DLG may contribute to the tumorigenic potentials of several different human virus oncoproteins.