Direct and selective binding of an acidic transcriptional activation domain to the TATA-box factor TFIID.

The potent transactivation domain of the herpes simplex virion protein VP16 was used as a column ligand for affinity chromatography. VP16 binds strongly and highly selectively to the human and yeast TATA box-binding factors. Our results imply that the principal target for acidic activation domains is the TATA-box factor TFIID.