Construction and uses of cell lines containing integrated adenovirus E2 promoters

The adenovirus E1a gene encodes polypeptides which regulate the expression of adenovirus early genes as well as a variety of cellular genes. Although it is likely that the E1a encoded polypeptides regulate the expression of these genes by interaction with a variety of cellular transcription factors, the precise mechanism by which this occurs is currently unknown. This report describes the development of cell lines which contain integrated copies of the E2 promoter driving the expression of the Tn5 neo gene or the Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase gene. In each case phenotypic changes concurrent with expression of the E1a 289 amino acid polypeptide are demonstrated. The use of these cell lines to detect rare events in the activation of the E2 promoter is demonstrated in transfection experiments. These cell lines are also used to study the effects of c-myc expression on integrated E2 promoters.