E1A promotes association between p300 and pRB in multimeric complexes required for normal biological activity.

The oncogenes of the small DNA tumor viruses encode transforming proteins with multiple domains that influence the cell cycle and aspects of the transformed phenotype. Like other gene products of this type, the adenovirus E1A proteins influence the cell by binding to specific cell growth control proteins. These include members of the retinoblastoma gene product (pRB) family, which are bound by the E1A region 2-specific site, and p300, which is bound at the E1A amino terminus. Binding at these two sites is largely independent, and discrete transcription-regulating functions remain intact in E1A products when only one or the other binding site is functional. In this report, immunoprecipitation with p300 antibodies reveals the presence of the pRB family proteins in p300 complexes when E1A is expressed in host cells, indicating that E1A can mediate physical contact between p300 and the pRB-related proteins. The ability of E1A to induce proliferation efficiently in quiescent primary cells correlates closely with the ability to bind p300 and individual members of the pRB family simultaneously in multimeric complexes, even though the E1A active sites can bind their target proteins efficiently when separated on different molecules. Conservation of a spacer region between the two binding sites that is required for simultaneous binding and efficient induction of proliferation supports the concept that the E1A protein structure has evolved to facilitate simultaneous binding. These results indicate that the E1A proteins are designed not merely to sequester these cellular products, but also to bring them into proximal association with each other in biologically significant complexes.