The HTLV-1 Tax protein: revealing mechanisms of transcriptional activation through histone acetylation and nucleosome disassembly.

The human T-cell leukemia virus, type-1 (HTLV-1)-encoded Tax protein is required for high-level transcription of the virus. Tax function is strictly dependent upon the phosphorylated form of the cellular transcription factor CREB (pCREB), and together they bind novel cAMP response elements located within the viral promoter. The DNA-bound Tax/pCREB complex recruits the cellular coactivators CBP/p300, which are essential for viral gene expression.