Jun Kinase Phosphorylates and Regulates the DNA Binding Activity of an Octamer Binding Protein, T-Cell Factor β1

POU domain proteins have been implicated as key regulators during development and lymphocyte activation. The POU domain protein T-cell factor β1 (TCFβ1), which binds octamer and octamer-related sequences, is a potent transactivator. In this study, we showed that TCFβ1 is phosphorylated following activation via the T-cell receptor or by stress-induced signals. Phosphorylation of TCFβ1 occurred predominantly at serine and threonine residues. Signals which upregulate Jun kinase (JNK)/stress-activated protein kinase activity also lead to association of JNK with TCFβ1. JNK associates with the activation domain of TCFβ1 and phosphorylates its DNA binding domain. The phosphorylation of recombinant TCFβ1 by recombinant JNK enhances the ability of TCFβ1 to bind to a consensus octamer motif. Consistent with this conclusion, TCFβ1 upregulates reporter gene transcription in an activation- and JNK-dependent manner. In addition, inhibition of JNK activity by catalytically inactive MEKK (in which methionine was substituted for the lysine at position 432) also inhibits the ability of TCFβ1 to drive inducible transcription from the interleukin-2 promoter. These results suggest that stress-induced signals and T-cell activation induce JNK, which then acts on multiple cis sequences by modulating distinct transactivators like c-Jun and TCFβ1. This demonstrates a coupling between the JNK activation pathway and POU domain proteins and implicates TCFβ1 as a physiological target in the JNK signal transduction pathway leading to coordinated biological responses.