Regulation of the erythroid transcription factor NF-E2 by cyclic adenosine monophosphate-dependent protein kinase

Activation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase (A-kinase) promotes hemoglobin synthesis in several erythropoietin-dependent cell lines, whereas A-kinase-deficient murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells show impaired hemoglobin production; A-kinase may regulate the erythroid transcription factor NF-E2 by directly phosphorylating its p45 subunit or by changing p45 interactions with other proteins. We have mapped the major A-kinase phosphorylation site of p45 to Ser(169); Ala substitution for Ser(169) resulted in a protein that was no longer phosphorylated by A-kinase in vitro or in vivo. The mutant protein formed NF-E2 complexes that bound to DNA with the same affinity as wild-type p45 and functioned normally to restore beta-globin gene expression in a p45-deficient MEL cell line. Transactivation properties of the (Ser (169)--> Ala) mutant p45 were also indistinguishable from wild-type p45 when Gal4-p45 fusion constructs were tested with a Gal4-dependent reporter gene. Transactivation of the reporter by both mutant and wild-type p45 was significantly enhanced when A-kinase was activated by membrane-permeable cAMP analogs or when cells were cotransfected with the catalytic subunit of A-kinase. Stimulation of p45 transactivation by A-kinase required only the N-terminal transactivation domain of p45, suggesting that A-kinase regulates the interaction of p45 with downstream effectors.