Regulation of E2F transcription by cyclin E–Cdk2 kinase mediated through p300/CBP co-activators

The E2F proteins form a family of transcription factors that regulate the transition from the G1 to the S phase in the cell cycle. E2F activity is regulated by members of the retinoblastoma protein (pRb) family, ensuring the tight control of E2F-responsive genes. During the G1 phase, phosphorylation of pRb by cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), most notably cyclin D–CDK complexes, releases pRb from E2F, facilitating cell-cycle progression by the timely induction of E2F-targeted genes such as cyclin E. However, it is not known whether E2F proteins are directly targeted by CDKs. Here we show that E2F-5 is phosphorylated by the cyclin E–Cdk2 complex, which functions in the late G1 phase, but not by the early-G1-phase-acting cyclin D–CDK complex. A phosphorylation site in the trans-activation domain of E2F-5 stimulates transcription and cell-cycle progression by the recruitment of the p300/CBP family of co-activators, whose binding to E2F-5 is stabilized upon phosphorylation by cyclin E–Cdk2. These results indicate that E2F activity may be directly regulated by cyclin E–Cdk2, and imply an autoregulatory mechanism for cell-cycle-dependent transcription through the CDK-stimulated interaction of E2F with p300/CBP co-activators.