Abstract

The E-protein transcription factors guide immune cell differentiation, with E12 and E47 (hereafter called E2A) being essential for B-cell specification and maturation. E2A and the oncogenic chimera E2A-PBX1 contain three transactivation domains (ADs), with AD1 and AD2 having redundant, independent, and cooperative functions in a cell-dependent manner. AD1 and AD2 both mediate their functions by binding to the KIX domain of the histone acetyltransferase paralogues CREB-binding protein (CBP) and E1A-binding protein P300 (p300). This interaction is necessary for B-cell maturation and oncogenesis by E2A-PBX1 and occurs through conserved ϕ-x-x-ϕ-ϕ motifs (with ϕ denoting a hydrophobic amino acid) in AD1 and AD2. However, disruption of this interaction via mutation of the KIX domain in CBP/p300 does not completely abrogate binding of E2A and E2APBX1. Here, we determined that E2A-AD1 and E2A-AD2 also interact with the TAZ2 domain of CBP/p300. Characterization of the TAZ2:E2AAD1(1-37) complex indicated that E2A-AD1 adopts an α-helical structure and uses its ϕ-x-x-ϕ-ϕ motif to bind TAZ2. While this region overlapped with the KIX recognition region, key KIX-interacting E2A-AD1 residues were exposed, suggesting that E2A-AD1 could simultaneously bind both the KIX and TAZ2 domains. However, we did not detect a ternary complex involving E2A-AD1, KIX, and TAZ2 and found that E2A containing both intact AD1 and AD2 is required to bind to CBP/p300. Our findings highlight the structural plasticity and promiscuity of E2A-AD1 and suggest that E2A binds both the TAZ2 and KIX domains of CBP/p300 through AD1 and AD2.