Displacement of SATB1-bound histone deacetylase 1 corepressor by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 transactivator induces expression of interleukin-2 and its receptor in T cells

One hallmark of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is the dysregulation of cytokine gene expression in T cells. Transfection of T cells with human T-cell leukemia type I or 2 transactivator results in the induction of the T-cell-restricted cytokine interleukin-2 (IL-2) and its receptor (IL-2Ralpha). However, no T-cell-specific factor(s) has been directly linked with the regulation of IL-2 and IL-2Ralpha transcription by influencing the promoter activity. Thymocytes from SATB1 (special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1) knockout mice have been shown to ectopically express IL-2Ralpha, suggesting involvement of SATB1 in its negative regulation. Here we show that SATBI, a T-cell-specific global gene regulator, binds to the promoters of human IL-2 and IL-2Ralpha and recruits histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) in vivo. SATBI also interacts with Tat in HIV-1-infected T cells. The functional interaction between HIV-1 Tat and SATBI requires its PDZ-like domain, and the binding of the HDAC1 corepressor occurs through the same. Furthermore, Tat competitively displaces HDAC1 that is bound to SATBI, leading to increased acetylation of the promoters in vivo. Transduction with SATBI interaction-deficient soluble Tat (Tat 40-72) and reporter assays using a transactivation-negative mutant (C22G) of Tat unequivocally demonstrated that the displacement of HDAC1 itself is sufficient for derepression of these promoters in vivo. These results suggest a novel mechanism by which HIV-1 Tat might overcome SATB1-mediated repression in T cells.