Transcription of genes encoding molecular chaperones and folding enzymes in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is induced by accumulation of unfolded proteins in the ER. This intracellular signaling, known as the unfolded protein response (UPR), is mediated by the cis-acting ER stress response element (ERSE) in mammals. In addition to ER chaperones, the mammalian transcription factor CHOP (also called GADD153) is induced by ER stress. We report here that the transcription factor XBP-1 (also called TREB5) is also induced by ER stress and that induction of CHOP and XBP-1 is mediated by ERSE. The ERSE consensus sequence is CCAAT-N(9)-CCACG. As the general transcription factor NF-Y (also known as CBF) binds to CCAAT, CCACG is considered to provide specificity in the mammalian UPR. We recently found that the basic leucine zipper protein ATF6 isolated as a CCACG-binding protein is synthesized as a transmembrane protein in the ER, and ER stress-induced proteolysis produces a soluble form of ATF6 that translocates into the nucleus. We report here that overexpression of soluble ATF6 activates transcription of the CHOP and XBP-1 genes as well as of ER chaperone genes constitutively, whereas overexpression of a dominant negative mutant of ATF6 blocks the induction by ER stress. Furthermore, we demonstrated that soluble ATF6 binds directly to CCACG only when CCAAT exactly 9 bp upstream of CCACG is bound to NF-Y. Based on these and other findings, we concluded that specific and direct interactions between ATF6 and ERSE are critical for transcriptional induction not only of ER chaperones but also of CHOP and XBP-1.

A trans-activator protein, p40tax, of human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) activates its own promoter and cellular promoters of IL-2, IL-2 receptor alpha and GM-CSF genes. We isolated three cDNA clones encoding cellular proteins that bind to the p40tax-dependent enhancer of HTLV-1 by screening a lambda gt11 cDNA library of an HTLV-1 infected cell line. All three proteins, TREB5, TREB7 and TREB36, contained a leucine zipper structure and basic amino acid domain, which are conserved in FOS, JUN and CREB, and also had multiple potential phosphorylation sites. The proteins expressed in Escherichia coli bound to the p40tax-dependent enhancer of the 21 bp sequence, but not to an inactive mutant carrying a mutation in the CRE region. In DNase I footprint analysis, all three proteins protected the 21 bp sequences in the LTR; however, the patterns were not identical to each other. TREB7 and TREB36 protected all three repeats of the 21 bp, but TREB5 protected only the second repeat. TREB7 and TREB36 protected the 5' and middle portions of the 21 bp which are essential for p40tax-mediated trans-activation, whereas TREB5 and CREB1 protected a narrower part of the middle region of the second 21 bp repeat containing the CRE consensus sequence. These structural features and DNA binding properties suggest that TREB proteins are members of a CREB protein family and that some of them (i.e., TREB7 and TREB36) may be involved in p40tax-mediated trans-activation.

TREB5 (hXBP-1) is a basic region leucine zipper protein which binds to a CRE-like element in both human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 and MHC class II genes. To study the function(s) of TREB5 in normal development, we have generated TREB5 deficient mice by gene targeting. Heterozygous mutant mice have not exhibited any obvious abnormalities; however, homozygous mutant embryos die between embryonic days 10.5 and 14.5. The major defect responsible for lethality is cellular necrosis of cardiac myocytes located at the atrium and the truncus arteriosus with its following ventricle. Necrotic alteration was not observed in either the endocardial cushion or the conotruncal ridge. These results indicate that TREB5 plays an essential role in maintenance and/or growth of cardiac myocytes during cardiogenesis.

A low level of UDP-Glc occurs in cells exposed to hypoxia or glucose starvation. This work reveals that a 65% reduction in the cellular UDP-Glc level causes up-regulation of the mitochondrial chaperone GRP75 and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) resident chaperones GRP58, ERp72, GRP78, GRP94, GRP170, and calreticulin. Conditions that cause misfolding of proteins within the ER activate the transcription factors ATF6alpha/beta and induce translation of the transcription factors XBP-1/TREB5 and ATF4/CREB2. These transcription factors induce the overexpression of ER chaperones and CHOP/GADD153. However, the 65% decrease in the cellular UDP-Glc level does not cause activation of ATF6alpha, splicing of XBP-1/TREB5, induction of ATF4/CREB2, or expression of CHOP/GADD153. The activity of the promoters of the ER chaperones is increased in UDP-Glc-deficient cells, but the activity of the CHOP/GADD153 promoter is not affected, in comparison with their respective activities in cells having compensated for the UDP-Glc deficiency. The results demonstrate that the unfolded protein response remains functionally intact in cells with a 65% decrease in the cellular UDP-Glc level and provide evidence that this decrease is a stress signal in mammalian cells, which triggers the coordinate overexpression of mitochondrial and ER chaperones, independently of the ER stress elements.

TREB5 (hXBP-1) protein is a transcription factor that recognizes the CRE-like element in enhancers of human T-cell leukemia virus and MHC class II gene and activates their transcription. TREB5 is a member of the CREB/ATF family, containing a basic amino acid region and leucine zipper structure (b-Zip structure). To characterize the key domain of TREB5 for transcriptional activation, mutational analysis was carried out. The C-terminal region of 148-221 amino acids was identified as an activation domain and was also active when fused to Gal4 DNA binding domain. This domain contains three unique regions rich in glutamic acid, glutamine, or serine/threonine and is active in both osteosarcoma (HOS) and T (Jurkat) cell lines. All of these three regions are essential; however, a part of the serine/threonine region was dispensable in Jurkat, but not in HOS cells. In addition to the activation domain, the N-terminal region showed activity in conjunction with the b-Zip structure, but not with the Gal4 DNA binding domain. Furthermore, this region showed activity in Jurkat cells, but not in HOS cells. These results suggest that TREB5 has two activational functions in transcription and may provide diversity in cell-type-specific transcriptional activation, possibly through dimerization with other b-Zip proteins and phosphorylation.

We have identified a zebrafish gene trebf that shows an overall similarity of 51.5% and 55.1% in amino acid sequence with human and mouse TREB5/hXBP-1/HTF, respectively. Northern hybridization reveals that trebf mRNA is expressed throughout the life cycle of zebrafish. Whole-mount in situ hybridization detects an expression pattern of trebf in zebrafish that is very different from that of mammalian TREB5. Just before the onset of gastrulation, trebf transcripts are accumulated in the dorsal blastoderm margin and subsequently in the forming organizer. During gastrulation, the trebf-positive cells in the organizer migrate toward the animal pole and form two distinct domains. The cells in the anterior leading expression domain ultimately differentiate into hatching gland, whereas those in the following domain form the notochord.

We screened for rat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-related genes by a novel cDNA subtraction method and obtained one gene. This gene was transcribed as 2.0- and 2.5-kb mRNAs, and its transcription was specifically enhanced in HCC. These cDNAs had the same open reading frame, but the 2.5 kb transcript had an extra 495 bases of 5'-UTR at the 5'-terminus. The deduced aa sequence revealed a basic-leucine zipper (b-ZIP) and proline/glutamine-rich structures, both of which are characteristic motifs for transcription factors. We designated the translation product of this gene HTF (Hepatocarcinogenesis-related Transcription Factor). Electrophoretic mobility shift assay demonstrated the DNA-binding ability of the recombinant HTF. It is most interesting that HTF had a considerable homology with human XBP/TREB5, which has been reported to be a binding factor for the X-box of the MHC class II gene and for the 21-bp enhancer of the HTLV-1 LTR. Genomic Southern analysis suggested that the 2.0- and 2.5-kb mRNAs are transcribed by a dual promoter of a single gene. Our results may suggest that HTF is a b-ZIP-type transcription factor involved in rat hepatocellular carcinoma.

TREB5/hXBP-1/HTF is a basic region leucine zipper protein which binds to a cyclic AMP responsive element (CRE)-like element in both human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 and human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II genes. To analyze the structure and transcription regulation of the TREB5 gene, we isolated the mouse TREB5 gene and cDNA. The mouse TREB5 gene contains five exons and four introns and spans approximately 5 kb. The deduced amino acid sequence of mouse TREB5 exhibited 77% and 94% homology to human and rat TREB5, respectively. The b-zip structure is completely conserved in mouse, rat and human. Southern blot analysis of the mouse genomic DNA demonstrated that positive bands exactly coincide with those expected from sequences of the cloned genes, indicating that the mouse TREB5 gene is present as a single copy. The transcription start site of the mouse TREB5 gene was mapped to -15 bp upstream from the ATG initiation codon. Promoter analysis of serial deletion mutants revealed that the -142 bp upstream region is the minimum sequence to promote mouse TREB5 gene expression and that the -1.0 kb upstream region is required for full promoter activity.