ING4 and ING5 are essential for histone H3 lysine 14 acetylation and epicardial cell lineage development

Inhibitor of growth 4 and 5 (ING4, ING5) are structurally similar chromatin-binding proteins in the KAT6A, KAT6B and KAT7 histone acetyltransferase protein complexes. Heterozygous mutations in the KAT6A or KAT6B gene cause human disorders with cardiac defects, but the contribution of their chromatin-adaptor proteins to development is unknown. We found that Ing5-/- mice had isolated cardiac ventricular septal defects. Ing4-/-Ing5-/- embryos failed to undergo chorioallantoic fusion and arrested in development at embryonic day 8.5, displaying loss of histone H3 lysine 14 acetylation, reduction in H3 lysine 23 acetylation levels and reduced developmental gene expression. Embryonic day 12.5 Ing4+/-Ing5-/- hearts showed a paucity of epicardial cells and epicardium-derived cells, failure of myocardium compaction, and coronary vasculature defects, accompanied by reduced expression of epicardium genes. Cell adhesion gene expression and proepicardium outgrowth were defective in the ING4- and ING5-deficient state. Our findings suggest that ING4 and ING5 are essential for heart development and promote epicardium and epicardium-derived cell fates and imply mutation of the human ING5 gene as a possible cause of isolated ventricular septal defects.

Increased histone acetylation is the signature of repressed state on the genes transcribed by RNA polymerase III

Several covalent modifications are found associated with the transcriptionally active chromatin regions constituted by the genes transcribed by RNA polymerase (pol) II. Pol III-transcribed genes code for the small, stable RNA species, which participate in many cellular processes, essential for survival. Pol III transcription is repressed under most of the stress conditions by its negative regulator Maf1. We found that most of the histone acetylations increase with starvation-induced repression on several genes transcribed by the yeast pol III. On one of these genes, SNR6 (coding for the U6snRNA), a strongly positioned nucleosome in the gene upstream region plays regulatory role under repression. On this nucleosome, the changes in H3K9 and H3K14 acetylations show different dynamics. During repression, acetylation levels on H3K9 show steady increase whereas H3K14 acetylation increases with a peak at 40 min after which levels reduce. Both the levels settle by 2 hr to a level higher than the active state, which revert to normal levels with nutrient repletion. The increase in H3 acetylations is seen in the mutants reported to show reduced SNR6 transcription but not in the maf1Δ cells. This increase on a regulatory nucleosome may be part of the signaling mechanisms, which prepare cells for the stress-related quick repression as well as reactivation. The contrasting association of the histone acetylations with pol II and pol III transcription may be an important consideration to make in research studies focused on drug developments targeting histone modifications.

The SET and ankyrin domains of the secreted Legionella pneumophila histone methyltransferase work together to modify host chromatin

IMPORTANCE

Legionella pneumophila is an intracellular bacterium responsible of Legionnaires' disease, a severe pneumonia that is often fatal when not treated promptly. The pathogen's ability to efficiently colonize the host resides in its ability to replicate intracellularly. Essential for intracellular replication is translocation of many different protein effectors via a specialized secretion system. One of them, called RomA, binds and directly modifies the host chromatin at a unique site (tri-methylation of lysine 14 of histone H3 [H3K14me]). However, the molecular mechanisms of binding are not known. Here, we resolve this question through structural characterization of RomA together with the H3 peptide. We specifically reveal an active role of the ankyrin repeats located in its C-terminal in the interaction with the histone H3 tail. Indeed, without the ankyrin domains, RomA loses its ability to act as histone methyltransferase. These results discover the molecular mechanisms by which a bacterial histone methyltransferase that is conserved in L. pneumophila strains acts to modify chromatin.

The epigenetic regulation of HIF-1α by SIRT1 in MPP(+) treated SH-SY5Y cells

Both silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) and hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) have been found to play important roles in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, their mechanisms and their relationship still require further study. In the present study, we focused on the change and relationship of SIRT1 and HIF-1α in PD. PD cell models were established by using methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP(+)), which induced inhibition of cell proliferation, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. We found that the expression of HIF-1α and its target genes VEGFA and LDHA increased and that SIRT1 expression was inhibited in MPP(+) treated cells. With further analysis, we found that the acetylation of H3K14 combined with the HIF-1α promoter was dramatically increased in cells treated with MPP(+), which resulted in the transcriptional activation of HIF-1α. Moreover, the acetylation of H3K14 and the expression of HIF-1α increased when SIRT1 was knocked down, suggesting that SIRT1 was involved in the epigenetic regulation of HIF-1α. At last, phenformin, another mitochondrial complex1 inhibitor, was used to testify that the increased HIF-1a was not due to off target effects of MPP(+). Therefore, our results support a link between PD and SIRT1/HIF-1α signaling, which may serve as a clue for understanding PD.