染色质修饰酶在记忆中的作用

学习记忆的形成依赖于转录机制.近年研究发现,染色质修饰在基因表达调节中起重要作用.组蛋白乙酰化和去乙酰化是染色质修饰中最为常见调节方式,参与基因的转录调控.乙酰化可以激活转录,促进记忆的形成.组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂可以增强突触可塑性,改善记忆损伤.因此,对于染色质修饰的深入研究,不仅有助于阐明记忆形成的分子机制,而且对记忆相关疾病的治疗以及新药物研发也具有重要指导意义.本文主要就组蛋白乙酰转移酶调节基因转录以及组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂促进记忆形成的作用机理进行综述.     

Buried in PEAT—discovery of a new silencing complex with opposing activities

Posttranslational histone modifications serve critical roles in gene regulation by determining the functional status of chromatin. Histone‐modifying enzymes often work in large multiprotein complexes. A paper in this issue of The EMBO Journal describes a new chromatin‐modifying complex called PEAT that acts via histone deacetylation. The PEAT complex is involved in heterochromatin formation and gene repression but also appears to have a locus‐specific activating role, possibly through promoting histone acetylation.     

Chromatin‐based mechanisms of temperature memory in plants

For successful growth and development, plants constantly have to gauge their environment. Plants are capable to monitor their current environmental conditions, and they are also able to integrate environmental conditions over time and store the information induced by the cues. In a developmental context, such an environmental memory is used to align developmental transitions with favourable environmental conditions. One temperature‐related example of this is the transition to flowering after experiencing winter conditions, that is, vernalization. In the context of adaptation to stress, such an environmental memory is used to improve stress adaptation even when the stress cues are intermittent. A somatic stress memory has now been described for various stresses, including extreme temperatures, drought, and pathogen infection. At the molecular level, such a memory of the environment is often mediated by epigenetic and chromatin modifications. Histone modifications in particular play an important role. In this review, we will discuss and compare different types of temperature memory and the histone modifications, as well as the reader, writer, and eraser proteins involved.     

Epigenetic regulation in plant abiotic stress responses

In eukaryotic cells, gene expression is greatly influenced by the dynamic chromatin environment. Epigenetic mechanisms, including covalent modifications to DNA and histone tails and the accessibility of chromatin, create various chromatin states for stress‐responsive gene expression that is important for adaptation to harsh environmental conditions. Recent studies have revealed that many epigenetic factors participate in abiotic stress responses, and various chromatin modifications are changed when plants are exposed to stressful environments. In this review, we summarize recent progress on the cross‐talk between abiotic stress response pathways and epigenetic regulatory pathways in plants. Our review focuses on epigenetic regulation of plant responses to extreme temperatures, drought, salinity, the stress hormone abscisic acid, nutrient limitations and ultraviolet stress, and on epigenetic mechanisms of stress memory.     

Characterization of histones and their post-translational modifications by mass spectrometry

Histone proteins and their accompanying post-translational modifications have received much attention for their ability to affect chromatin structure and, hence, regulate gene expression. Recently, mass spectrometry has become an important complementary tool for the analysis of histone variants and modification sites, for determining the degree of occupancy of these modifications and for quantifying differential expression of these modifications from various samples. Additionally, as advancements in mass spectrometry technologies continue, the ability to read entire 'histone codes' across large regions of histone polypeptides or intact protein is possible. As chromatin biology demands, mass spectrometry has adapted and continues as a key technology for the analysis of gene regulation networks involving histone modifications.     

An epigenetic integrator: new insights into genome regulation, environmental stress responses and developmental controls by histone deacetylase 6

Histone acetylation ranks with DNA methylation as one of major epigenetic modifications in eukaryotes. Deacetylation of histone N-terminal tails is intimately correlated with gene silencing and heterochromatin formation. In Arabidopsis, histone deacetylase 6 (HDA6) is a well-studied histone deacetylase that functions in gene silencing. Recently, it has been reported that HDA6 cooperates with DNA methylation on its direct target locus in the gene silencing mechanism. HDA6 has the multifaceted role in regulation of genome maintenance, development and environmental stress responses in plants. Elucidation of HDA6 function provides important information for understanding of epigenetic regulation in plants. In this review, we highlight recent progress in elucidating the HDA6-mediated gene silencing mechanisms and deciphering the biological function of HDA6.     

The Regulation and Function of Histone Methylation

Histones are wrapped around by genomic DNA to form nucleosomes which are the basic units of chromatin. In eukaryotes histones undergo various covalent modifications such as methylation, phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitination and ribosylation. Histone modifications play a fundamental role in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression in multicellular eukaryotes. Histone methylation is one of the most important modifications occurring on Lysine (K) and Arginine (R) residues of histones, dynamically regulated by histone methyltransferases and demethylases. Identifications of such histone modification enzymes and to study how they work are the most fundamental questions needs to be answered. Uncovering the regulation and functions of the various histone methylation enzymes will help us to better understand the epigenetic code. This review summarizes the regulation of histone methyltransferases activity, the recruitment of methyltransferases and the distribution patterns and function of histone methylations.     

组蛋白乙酰化与癌症

由于组蛋白被修饰所引起的染色质结构的改变,在真核生物基因表达调控中发挥着重要的作用,这些修饰主要包括甲基化、乙酰化、磷酸化和泛素化等,其中组蛋白乙酰化尤为重要.组蛋白乙酰转移酶（HAT）和组蛋白去乙酰化酶（HDAC）参与决定组蛋白乙酰化状态.HAT通常作为多亚基辅激活物复合体的一部分,催化组蛋白乙酰化,导致染色质结构的松散、激活转录;而HDAC是多亚基辅抑制物复合体的一部分,使组蛋白去乙酰化,导致染色质集缩,并抑制基因的转录. 编码这些酶的基因染色体易位易于导致急性白血病的发生.另一方面,已经确定了一些乙酰化修饰酶的基因在染色体上的位置,它们尤其倾向定位于染色体的断裂处.综述了HAT和HDAC参与的组蛋白乙酰化与癌症发生之间关系的最新进展,以期进一步阐明组蛋白乙酰化修饰酶的生物学功能以及它们在癌症发生过程中的作用.     

Maternal and paternal alleles exhibit differential histone methylation and acetylation at maize imprinted genes

Imprinting is an epigenetically controlled form of gene regulation in which the expression of a gene is based on its parent of origin. This epigenetic regulation is likely to involve allele-specific DNA or histone modifications. The relative abundance of eight different histone modifications was tested at various regions in several imprinted maize (Zea mays) genes using a chromatin immunoprecipitation protocol coupled with quantitative allele-specific single nucleotide polymorphism assays. Histone H3 lysine-27 di- and tri-methylation are paternally enriched at the imprinted loci Mez1, ZmFie1 and Nrp1. In contrast, acetylation of histones H3 and H4 and H3K4 dimethylation are enriched at the maternal alleles of these genes. Di- and tri-methylation of H3 lysine-9, which is generally associated with constitutively silenced chromatin, was not enriched at either allele of imprinted loci. These patterns of enrichment were specific to tissues that exhibit imprinting. In addition, the enrichment of these modifications was dependent upon the parental origin of an allele and not sequence differences between the alleles, as demonstrated by reciprocal crosses. This study presents a detailed view of the chromatin modifications that are associated with the maternal and paternal alleles at imprinted loci and provides evidence for common histone modifications at multiple imprinted loci.     

Histone modifications during mammalian oocyte maturation: Dynamics,regulation and functions

Histone modifications are associated with many fundamental biological processes in cells. An emerging notion from recent studies is that meiosis stage-dependent histone modifications are crucial for the oocyte development in mammals. In this paper, we review the changes and regulation as well as functions of histone modifications during meiotic maturation of mammalian oocyte, with particular emphasis on histone acetylation, phosphorylation and methylation. In general, dynamic and differential modification patterns have been revealed during oocyte maturation, indicative of functional requirement. Disruption of histone modifications leads to defective chromosome condensation and segregation, delayed maturation progression and even oocyte aging. Although several histone-modifying enzymes have been identified in mammalian oocytes, more works are necessary to determine how they direct histone modifications globally and individually in oocytes. Studies on chromatin modification during oocyte development will have implications for our understanding of the mechanisms controlling nuclear architecture and genomic stability in female germ line.     

The histone methyltransferase SUV420H2 and Heterochromatin Proteins HP1 interact but show different dynamic behaviours

Background  

Histone lysine methylation plays a fundamental role in chromatin organization and marks distinct chromatin regions. In particular, trimethylation at lysine 9 of histone H3 (H3K9) and at lysine 20 of histone H4 (H4K20) governed by the histone methyltransferases SUV39H1/2 and SUV420H1/2 respectively, have emerged as a hallmark of pericentric heterochromatin. Controlled chromatin organization is crucial for gene expression regulation and genome stability. Therefore, it is essential to analyze mechanisms responsible for high order chromatin packing and in particular the interplay between enzymes involved in histone modifications, such as histone methyltransferases and proteins that recognize these epigenetic marks.     

植物中表观遗传修饰研究进展

表观遗传是指DNA序列不发生变化, 但基因表达发生了可遗传的改变, 主要涉及DNA与染色体上的一些可逆修饰以及一些转录调控机制。DNA甲基化、组蛋白修饰和非编码RNA调控是表观遗传学研究的三大支柱。三者在植物生长发育、应对生物和非生物胁迫以及适应环境变化中发挥着极其重要的作用。该文综述了植物中DNA甲基化、组蛋白修饰、非编码RNA调控的研究进展及其对植物株高、生育期、花型、果实着色以及应对环境胁迫等方面的影响。