组蛋白乙酰化/去乙酰化与基因表达调控

组蛋白是真核生物染色质的主要成分,组蛋白修饰(如甲基化、乙酰化、磷酸化、泛素化等)在真核生物基因表达调控中发挥着重要的作用.在这些修饰中,组蛋白乙酰化/去乙酰化尤为重要.组蛋白乙酰化/去乙酰化可通过改变染色质周围电荷或参与染色质构型重建而影响基因表达;更重要的是组蛋白乙酰化/去乙酰化可形成一种特殊的“密码”,被其它蛋白质识别,影响多种蛋白质因子的活动或与其相互作用,参与到基因表达调控的整个网络中.     

重组p300组蛋白乙酰转移酶结构域的表达及应用

组蛋白乙酰化修饰是基因起始转录的关键步骤. p300等组蛋白乙酰转移酶（HATs）催化组蛋白和非组蛋白的乙酰化. HATs具有多种细胞功能,而且乙酰化对底物蛋白的功能改变也具有重要功能. 组蛋白乙酰转移酶p300可乙酰化多种细胞内蛋白,某些病毒蛋白与p300有相互作用并促进病毒复制. 因此, p300是细胞内具有广泛功能的转录激活因子. 组蛋白乙酰转移酶结构域（HAT区）是p300乙酰化酶活性的最小中心功能域,在p300乙酰化底物中具有重要功能. 本文重组表达了对应p300 HAT区的GST-p300 HAT蛋白,对其乙酰化酶的活性进行检测. 结果证实,p300 HAT蛋白在体外可高效乙酰化组蛋白H3. 随后,对体外乙酰化反应的条件进行优化. 总之,本文构建了一种简单高效、非放射性体外乙酰化体系,适用于对潜在底物蛋白的乙酰化水平和机制进行分析,以及乙酰化蛋白的相关功能的研究.     

p300乙酰化在卡介苗感染中的作用

研究p300乙酰化在卡介苗(bacillus Calmette Guérin,BCG)感染中的作用。构建THP-1巨噬细胞模型,比较BCG感染前后p300蛋白表达水平和组蛋白H3乙酰化水平的改变,加入p300特异性抑制剂Delphinidin,观察细胞内组蛋白H3乙酰化水平的变化。结果表明,在分化成熟的THP-1细胞系中,BCG感染能够上调p300蛋白表达水平和组蛋白H3乙酰化水平,加入p300特异性抑制剂Delphinidin后,组蛋白H3乙酰化水平降低。BCG感染通过p300途径导致蛋白质乙酰化水平发生改变。     

组蛋白乙酰化/去乙酰化在真核基因转录调控中的作用

真核生物中 ,染色质的基本单位是核小体。核小体由H2 A ,H2 B ,H3 ,H4构成的核心组蛋白八聚体及缠绕于其上的DNA构成。最近的研究结果表明 ,核心组蛋白的乙酰化 去乙酰化过程是调控基因活性的一个关键步骤[1] 。而含有组蛋白去乙酰化酶活性的分子有两类 :一类是与酵母RPD3同源的分子 ,另一类是与RPD3不同源的分子。它们各有其不同的来源 ,存在于各自的复合物中 ,催化不完全相同的组蛋白或其他蛋白质去乙酰化 ;这些去乙酰化酶与基因转录的调控存在着密切的关系 ,主要是介导基因转录的抑制。     

抑癌蛋白p53乙酰化修饰的调控网络

p53是细胞内最重要的抑癌蛋白质之一;细胞对p53分子功能的调控主要通过一系列翻译后修饰(PTMs)完成。其中,乙酰化修饰既可在总体水平调控p53的转录活性,又可位点特异性地调控p53依赖的转录选择性,进而精确控制p53在细胞周期阻滞、凋亡、衰老、自噬和代谢等关键生物学过程中的作用。本综述以p53乙酰化修饰研究的时间脉络为轴,首先总结了发生在p53各结构域内乙酰化修饰的建立机制,包括催化p53位点特异性乙酰化发生的乙酰基转移酶,以及各位点乙酰化修饰对p53分子功能调节的机制。其次,本综述总结了参与去除p53乙酰化修饰的关键去乙酰基酶家族,以及这些因子参与调控p53分子功能的生物学意义。同时,本文综述了能够特异性读取p53乙酰化修饰状态的识别蛋白质,以及这些识别蛋白质与p53互作,进而协同调控下游靶基因转录的分子调控网络。此外,本文概述了p53乙酰化修饰与其它类型翻译后修饰之间的“交谈”,以及这些修饰之间通过时空特异互作方式影响p53功能的分子机制。最后,本文基于p53乙酰化修饰,对肿瘤分子医学的研究前景进行讨论与展望。     

组蛋白去乙酰化酶4与人类疾病

组蛋白去乙酰化酶4（histone deacetylase 4,HDAC4）是一类依赖锌的去乙酰化酶,属于Ⅱ类组蛋白去乙酰化酶（histone deacetylases,HDACs）,主要具有去乙酰化酶的活性。HDAC4由去乙酰化酶结构域发挥去乙酰化酶的作用,还具有核定位序列和核输出序列,通过转录后与翻译后水平的修饰可在细胞核和细胞质之间穿梭,进而参与多种调节过程。近年来的研究发现,HDAC4可参与基因的转录调控、细胞凋亡、代谢等诸多生物进程,在多种疾病的发生发展中发挥重要作用。本文主要从HDAC4的结构、去乙酰作用、自身的修饰及其在核浆中的穿梭作用对其进行概述,同时对其在骨关节炎、心血管疾病、肌萎缩性侧索硬化症等不同疾病中的作用、相关的分子机制及组蛋白抑制剂在肿瘤中的应用等方面的研究进展进行综述。     

宫颈癌p16基因甲基化及表达的研究

为了探讨p16基因甲基化及异常表达在宫颈癌中的意义,分别采用甲基化特异性PCR（MSP）方法检测不同病理类型和临床分期的60例宫颈癌组织中p16基因启动子区域5´CpG岛甲基化状态;采用PCR方法检测p16基因外显子1（E1)和外显子2(E2)纯合缺失情况;采用免疫组化的方法分析p16蛋白的表达缺失和减弱情况。结果显示正常对照组织及癌旁p16基因无甲基化,且无E1和E2缺失和p16蛋白表达异常。60例宫颈癌标本的甲基化率为21.67%（13/60）;p16 基因缺失率为15.00%（9/60）;p16蛋白表达下降或无表达为51.67%（31/60）。可见p16基因蛋白的阳性表达率随着临床分期升高呈明显下降趋势。结果提示p16基因失活在宫颈癌中多见且与病理分级密切相关。p16 基因甲基化在宫颈癌发生中起着一定作用。Abstract： To detect hypermethylation and aberrant expression of the p16 gene in cervical carcinoma (CC), methylation-specific PCR (MSP) was used to determine the methylation status of 5´CpG islands of the p16 gene, loss or decrease of p16 expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), and homozygous deletion of exon 1 (E1) and/or exon 2 (E2) was determined by PCR. in 60 cases of CC at different pathological grades and clinical stages. The results showed absence of methylation and presence of normal expression of the p16 gene in the control and adjacent tissues of CC. Hypermethylation, loss or decrease of expression and deletion of the p16 gene were detected in 21.67%(13/60), 51.67%(31/60) and 15.00%(9/60) of the tumor tissues, respectively. The rate of p16 expression markedly reduced with the increase of clinical stages. Our data suggested that inactivation of the p16 gene was a frequent event and positively correlated with pathological grades in CC, and that methylation of the p16 gene was an important event in carcinogenesis of CC.     

组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂的研究进展

核小体是真核生物染色质的基本单位,通过对组蛋白核心的N-端的乙酰化、甲基化、磷酸化、遍在蛋白化的修饰作用而影响细胞的功能。组蛋白乙酰化酶(histone acetylase HAT)及组蛋白去乙酰化酶(Histone Deacetylases HDAC)之间的动态平衡控制着染色质的结构和基因表达。当组蛋白去乙酰化水平增加,乙酰化水平相对降低,即会导致正常的细胞周期与代谢行为的改变而诱发肿瘤,及神经退行性变。组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂(Histone Deacetylases-inhibitor HDACi)目前是国内外研究的热点。其中,曲古霉素A(Trichostatin A TSA),是最早发现的天然组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂;伏立诺他(Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid SAHA)已经美国FDA批准用于治疗皮肤T细胞淋巴瘤。本文就HDACi分类及其功能出发综述HDACi的作用机制及研究进展。     

Regulation of Histone Acetylation by Autophagy in Parkinson Disease

Parkinson disease (PD) is the most common age-dependent neurodegenerative movement disorder. Accumulated evidence indicates both environmental and genetic factors play important roles in PD pathogenesis, but the potential interaction between environment and genetics in PD etiology remains largely elusive. Here, we report that PD-related neurotoxins induce both expression and acetylation of multiple sites of histones in cultured human cells and mouse midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons. Consistently, levels of histone acetylation are markedly higher in midbrain DA neurons of PD patients compared to those of their matched control individuals. Further analysis reveals that multiple histone deacetylases (HDACs) are concurrently decreased in 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP⁺)-treated cells and 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-treated mouse brains, as well as midbrain tissues of human PD patients. Finally, inhibition of histone acetyltransferase (HAT) protects, whereas inhibition of HDAC1 and HDAC2 potentiates, MPP⁺-induced cell death. Pharmacological and genetic inhibition of autophagy suppresses MPP⁺-induced HDACs degradation. The study reveals that PD environmental factors induce HDACs degradation and histone acetylation increase in DA neurons via autophagy and identifies an epigenetic mechanism in PD pathogenesis.     

Coordinated expression of p300 and HDAC3 upregulates histone acetylation during dentinogenesis

Cellular differentiation is caused by highly controlled modifications in the gene expression but rarely involves a change in the DNA sequence itself. Histone acetylation is a major epigenetic factor that adds an acetyl group to histone proteins, thus altering their interaction with DNA and nuclear proteins. Illumination of the histone acetylation during dentinogenesis is important for odontoblast differentiation and dentinogenesis. In the current study, we aimed to discover the roles and regulation of acetylation at histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9ac) and H3K27ac during dentinogenesis. We first found that both of these modifications were enhanced during odontoblast differentiation and dentinogenesis. These modifications are dynamically catalyzed by histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and deacetylases (HDACs), among which HDAC3 was decreased while p300 increased during odontoblast differentiation. Moreover, overexpression of HDAC3 or knockdown p300 inhibited odontoblast differentiation in vitro, and inhibition of HDAC3 and p300 with trichostatin A or C646 regulated odontoblast differentiation. Taken together, the results of our present study suggest that histone acetylation is involved in dentinogenesis and coordinated expression of p300- and HDAC3-regulated odontoblast differentiation through upregulating histone acetylation.     

TPPP/p25 Promotes Tubulin Acetylation by Inhibiting Histone Deacetylase 6

TPPP/p25 (tubulin polymerization-promoting protein/p25) is an unstructured protein that induces microtubule polymerization in vitro and is aligned along the microtubule network in transfected mammalian cells. In normal human brain, TPPP/p25 is expressed predominantly in oligodendrocytes, where its expression is proved to be crucial for their differentiation process. Here we demonstrated that the expression of TPPP/p25 in HeLa cells, in doxycycline-inducible CHO10 cells, and in the oligodendrocyte CG-4 cells promoted the acetylation of α-tubulin at residue Lys-40, whereas its down-regulation by specific small interfering RNA in CG-4 cells or by the withdrawal of doxycycline from CHO10 cells decreased the acetylation level of α-tubulin. Our results indicate that TPPP/p25 binds to HDAC6 (histone deacetylase 6), an enzyme responsible for tubulin deacetylation. Moreover, we demonstrated that the direct interaction of these two proteins resulted in the inhibition of the deacetylase activity of HDAC6. The measurement of HDAC6 activity showed that TPPP/p25 is able to induce almost complete (90%) inhibition at 3 μm concentration. In addition, treatment of the cells with nocodazole, vinblastine, or cold exposure revealed that microtubule acetylation induced by trichostatin A, a well known HDAC6 inhibitor, does not cause microtubule stabilization. In contrast, the microtubule bundling activity of TPPP/p25 was able to protect the microtubules from depolymerization. Finally, we demonstrated that, similarly to other HDAC6 inhibitors, TPPP/p25 influences the microtubule dynamics by decreasing the growth velocity of the microtubule plus ends and also affects cell motility as demonstrated by time lapse video experiments. Thus, we suggest that TPPP/p25 is a multiple effector of the microtubule organization.