Chromatin is the arrangement of DNA and proteins in which chromosomes are formed. Correspondingly, chromatin is formed from nucleosomes, which are comprised of a set of four histone proteins (H2A, H2B, H3, H4) wrapped with DNA. Chromatin is a very dynamic structure in which numerous post-translational modifications work together to activate or repress the availability of DNA to be copied, transcribed, or repaired. These marks decide which DNA will be open and commonly active (euchromatin) or tightly wound to prevent access and activation (heterochromatin). Common histone modifications include methylation of lysine and arginine, acetylation of lysine, phosphorylation of threonine and serine, and sumoylation, biotinylation, and ubiquitylation of lysine. In particular, acetylation of H4 Lys16 (H4 K16Ac) plays a role in transcriptional activation and DNA repair. The protein MOF (MYST1) is the primary enzyme to acetylate K16, along with Gcn5, Esal, ATF2, and Sas2. Depletion of MOF reduces K16 acetylation, causing cell cycle arrests, chromosomal aberrations, and a poor DNA damage response.
The nucleosome, made up of four core histone proteins (H2A, H2B, H3, and H4), is the primary building block of chromatin. Originally thought to function as a static scaffold for DNA packaging, histones have now been shown to be dynamic proteins, undergoing multiple types of post-translational modifications, including acetylation, phosphorylation, methylation, and ubiquitination. Histone methylation is a major determinant for the formation of active and inactive regions of the genome and is crucial for the proper programming of the genome during development. Arginine methylation of histones H3 (Arg2, 17, 26) and H4 (Arg3) promotes transcriptional activation and is mediated by a family of protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs), including the co-activators PRMT1 and CARM1 (PRMT4). In contrast, a more diverse set of histone lysine methyltransferases has been identified, all but one of which contain a conserved catalytic SET domain originally identified in the Drosophila Su(var)3-9, Enhancer of zeste, and Trithorax proteins. Lysine methylation occurs primarily on histones H3 (Lys4, 9, 27, 36, 79) and H4 (Lys20) and has been implicated in both transcriptional activation and silencing. Methylation of these lysine residues coordinates the recruitment of chromatin modifying enzymes containing methyl-lysine binding modules such as chromodomains (HP1, PRC1), PHD fingers (BPTF, ING2), tudor domains (53BP1), and WD-40 domains (WDR5). The discovery of histone demethylases such as PADI4, LSD1, JMJD1, JMJD2, and JHDM1 has shown that methylation is a reversible epigenetic marker.
UniProt ID:
P62805
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