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The positive transcription elongation factor b (PTEFb), comprising CDK9 and cyclin T, stimulates transcription of cellular and viral genes by phosphorylating RNA polymerase II. A major portion of nuclear P-TEFb is sequestered and inactivated by the coordinated actions of the 7SK snRNA and the HEXIM1 protein, whose induced dissociation from P-TEFb is crucial for stressinduced transcription and pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy. The 7SK·P-TEFb interaction, which can occur independently of HEXIM1 and does not by itself inhibit P-TEFb, recruits HEXIM1 for P-TEFb inactivation. To study the control of this interaction, we established an in vitro system that reconstituted the specific interaction of P-TEFb with 7SK but not other snRNAs. Using this system, together with an in vivo binding assay, we show that the phosphorylation of CDK9, on possibly the conserved Thr-186 in the T-loop, was crucial for the 7SK·P-TEFb interaction. This phosphorylation was not caused by CDK9 autophosphorylation or the general CDK-activating kinase CAK, but rather by a novel HeLa nuclear kinase. Furthermore, the stress-induced disruption of the 7SK·P-TEFb interaction was not caused by any prohibitive changes in 7SK but by the dephosphorylation of P-TEFb, leading to the loss of the key phosphorylation important for 7SK binding. Thus, the phosphorylated P-TEFb is tagged for inhibition through association with 7SK. We discuss the implications of this mechanism in controlling P-TEFb activity during normal and stress-induced transcription. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dilated cardiomyopathy is characterized by ventricular dilation with systolic dysfunction of cardiac muscle. Recent genetic studies have revealed that mutations in genes for cytoskeleton proteins distributed in the Z-disc and/or intercalated discs of the cardiac muscle are major predictors of cardiomyopathy. However, as mutations in these genes can account for only a part of the patient population, there should be another diseasecausing gene(s) for cardiomyopathy. Cypher/ZASP appears to be an ideal candidate for the cardiomyopathy causative gene, because Cypher/ZASP encodes a Z-disc associated protein, and recent studies have demonstrated that Cypher/ZASP knock-out mice develop cardiomyopathy. In this study, we searched for sequence variations in Cypher/ZASP in 96 unrelated Japanese patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. A D626N mutation located within the third LIM domain was identified in a familial case but not found in the unrelated controls. A family study of the patient showed that all affected siblings tested had the same mutation. Clinical information of the affected family members suggested that the mutation was associated with late onset cardiomyopathy. To reveal the biochemical changes due to the mutation, we performed a yeast two-hybrid assay and a pull-down assay. It was demonstrated by both assays that the D626N mutation of Cypher/ZASP increased the affinity of the LIM domain for protein kinase C, suggesting a novel biochemical mechanism of the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]