Superimposed Promoter Sequences of the Adenoviral E2 Early RNA Polymerase III and RNA Polymerase II Transcription Units

The human adenovirus type 2 E2 early (E2E) transcriptional control region contains an efficient RNA polymerase III promoter, in addition to the well characterized promoter for RNA polymerase II. To determine whether this promoter includes intragenic sequences, we examined the effects of precise substitutions introduced between positions +2 and +62 on E2E transcription in an RNA polymerase III-specific, in vitro system. Two noncontiguous sequences within this region were necessary for efficient or accurate transcription by this enzyme. The sequence and properties of the functional element proximal to the sites of initiation identified it as an A box. Although a B box sequence could not be unambiguously located, substitutions between positions +42 and +62 that severely impaired transcription also inhibited binding of the human general initiation protein TFIIIC. Thus, this region of the RNA polymerase III E2E promoter contains a B box sequence. We also identified previously unrecognized intragenic sequences of the E2E RNA polymerase II promoter. In conjunction with our previous observations, these data establish that RNA polymerase II and RNA polymerase III promoter sequences are superimposed from approximately positions -30 to +20 of the complex E2E transcriptional control region. The alterations in transcription induced by certain mutations suggest that components of the RNA polymerase II and RNA polymerase III transcriptional machines compete for access to overlapping binding sites in the E2E template.