The positive transcription elongation factor (P-TEFb) comprises a kinase, CDK9, and a Cyclin T1 or T2. Its activity is inhibited by association with the HEXIM1 or HEXIM2 protein bound to 7SK small nuclear RNA. HEXIM1 and HEXIM2 were found to form stable homo- and hetero-oligomers. Using yeast two-hybrid and transfection assays, we have now shown that the C-terminal domains of HEXIM proteins directly interact with each other. Hydrodynamic parameters measured by glycerol gradient ultracentrifugation and gel-permeation chromatography demonstrate that both purified recombinant and cellular HEXIM1 proteins form highly anisotropic particles. Chemical cross-links suggest that HEXIM1 proteins form dimers. The multimeric nature of HEXIM1 is maintained in P-TEFb.HEXIM1.7SK RNA complexes. Multiple P-TEFb modules are found in the inactive P-TEFb.HEXIM1.7SK complexes. It is proposed that 7SK RNA binding to a HEXIM1 multimer promotes the simultaneous recruitment and hence inactivation of multiple P-TEFb units.

The active form of the positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) consists of cyclin T and the kinase Cdk9. P-TEFb stimulates transcription by phosphorylating the C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II. It becomes inactivated when associated in a tetrameric complex with the abundant 7SK small nuclear RNA and the recently identified protein Hexim1. In this study, we identified a stable and soluble C-terminal domain (residues 255-359) in Hexim1 of 12.5-kDa size that binds the cyclin boxes of Cyclin T1. Functional assays in HeLa cells showed that this cyclin T-binding domain (TBD) is required for the binding of Hexim1 to P-TEFb and inhibition of transcriptional activity in vivo. Analytical gel filtration and GST pull-down experiments revealed that both full-length Hexim1 and the TBD are homodimers. Isothermal titration calorimetry yielded a weak multimer for the TBD with a multimerization constant of 1.3 x 10(3) m. The binding affinity between the TBD and cyclin T1 was analyzed with fluorescence spectroscopy methods, using a dansyl-based fluorescence label at position G257C. Equilibrium fluorescence titration and stopped flow fast kinetics yield a dissociation constant of 1.2 mum. Finally, we tested the effect of the HIV-1 Tat protein on the cyclin T1-TBD complex formation. GST pull-down experiments and size exclusion chromatography exhibit a mutually exclusive binding of the two effectors to cyclin T1. Our data suggest a model where HIV-1 Tat competes with Hexim1 for cyclin T1 binding, thus releasing P-TEFb from the inactive complex to stimulate the transcription of HIV-1 gene expression.

The human positive transcription elongation factor P-TEFb is composed of two subunits, cyclin T1 (hCycT1) and CDK9, and is involved in transcriptional regulation of cellular genes as well as human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) mRNA. Replication of HIV-1 requires the Tat protein, which activates elongation of RNA polymerase II at the HIV-1 promoter by interacting with hCycT1. To understand the cellular functions of P-TEFb and to test whether suppression of host proteins such as P-TEFb can modulate HIV infectivity without causing cellular toxicity or lethality, we used RNA interference (RNAi) to specifically knock down P-TEFb expression by degrading hCycT1 or CDK9 mRNA. RNAi-mediated gene silencing of P-TEFb in HeLa cells was not lethal and inhibited Tat transactivation and HIV-1 replication in host cells. We also found that CDK9 protein stability depended on hCycT1 protein levels, suggesting that the formation of P-TEFb CDK-cyclin complexes is required for CDK9 stability. Strikingly, P-TEFb knockdown cells showed normal P-TEFb kinase activity. Our studies suggest the existence of a dynamic equilibrium between active and inactive pools of P-TEFb in the cell and indicate that this equilibrium shifts towards the active kinase form to sustain cell viability when P-TEFb protein levels are reduced. The finding that a P-TEFb knockdown was not lethal and still showed normal P-TEFb kinase activity suggested that there is a critical threshold concentration of activated P-TEFb required for cell viability and HIV replication. These results provide new insights into the regulation of P-TEFb function and suggest the possibility that similar mechanisms for monitoring protein levels to modulate the activity of proteins may exist for the regulation of a variety of other enzymatic pathways.

The positive transcription elongation factor (P-TEFb) comprises a kinase, CDK9, and a Cyclin T1 or T2. Its activity is inhibited by association with the HEXIM1 or HEXIM2 protein bound to 7SK small nuclear RNA. HEXIM1 and HEXIM2 were found to form stable homo- and hetero-oligomers. Using yeast two-hybrid and transfection assays, we have now shown that the C-terminal domains of HEXIM proteins directly interact with each other. Hydrodynamic parameters measured by glycerol gradient ultracentrifugation and gel-permeation chromatography demonstrate that both purified recombinant and cellular HEXIM1 proteins form highly anisotropic particles. Chemical cross-links suggest that HEXIM1 proteins form dimers. The multimeric nature of HEXIM1 is maintained in P-TEFb.HEXIM1.7SK RNA complexes. Multiple P-TEFb modules are found in the inactive P-TEFb.HEXIM1.7SK complexes. It is proposed that 7SK RNA binding to a HEXIM1 multimer promotes the simultaneous recruitment and hence inactivation of multiple P-TEFb units.

Positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) regulates eukaryotic gene expression at the level of elongation, and is itself controlled by the reversible association of 7SK RNA and an RNA-binding protein, HEXIM1 or HEXIM2. To further understand how P-TEFb is regulated, we analyzed the stoichiometry of all the known components of the large, inactive P-TEFb complex. Mutational analyses of a putative coiled coil region in the carboxyl-terminal portion of HEXIM1 revealed that the protein is a dimer in solution and remains a dimer after binding to 7SK. Although a HEXIM1 dimer contains two potential RNA binding motifs and ultimately recruits two P-TEFb molecules, it associates with only one molecule of RNA. The first 172 nucleotides of the 330-nucleotide 7SK are sufficient to bind HEXIM1 or HEXIM2, and then recruit and inhibit P-TEFb. Deletion of the first 121 amino acids of HEXIM1 allowed it to inhibit P-TEFb partially in the absence of 7SK RNA. Mutation of a conserved tyrosine (Tyr(271) in HEXIM1) to alanine or glutamate or mutation of a conserved phenylalanine (Phe(208)) to alanine, aspartate, or lysine, resulted in loss of inhibition of P-TEFb, but did not affect formation of the 7SK.HEXIM.P-TEFb complex. Analysis of T-loop phosphorylation in Cdk9 indicated that phosphorylation of Thr(186), but not Ser(175), was essential for kinase activity and for recruitment of P-TEFb to the 7SK.HEXIM complex. A model illustrates what is currently known about how HEXIM proteins, 7SK, and P-TEFb assemble to maintain an activated kinase in a readily available, but inactive form.