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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 282, Issue 21, 15476-15483, May 25, 2007
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1
2
From the
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern California/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90033 and
Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, Washington 98103
Received for publication, November 3, 2006 , and in revised form, March 30, 2007.
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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H3 and H4 tails have been shown to be an important determinant of internucleosomal interactions within chromatin, which are critical for regulating chromatin compaction and structure (8, 9). However, in addition histone tails are found to act as a protein interaction module to facilitate the recruitment of factors that will establish a specific functional domain in chromatin. It is also evident that distinct patterns of histone modifications play a critical role in binding of particular chromatin-regulating factors to specific chromatin domains. This selectivity of histone modifications led to the "histone code" hypothesis (1012), which proposes that histone modifications serve as a cognate mark for the recruitment of specific proteins to specify unique downstream functions. For example, methylations of H3 at Lys-9 and Lys-27 have been linked to transcriptional repression, because of their recognition by heterochromatin protein HP1 (heterochromatin protein 1;) and polycomb, respectively (1317). In contrast, methylation of H3 at Lys-4 creates binding sites for WDR5, which is a component of MLL1/2 and Set1 HMT3 complexes, and Chd1, which is the chromodomain-containing protein in the SAGA and SLIK complexes (18, 19). Recent studies also demonstrated that specific acetylations of H3 and H4 create marks for the binding of bromodomains present in many transcriptional regulators such as GCN5, PCAF, and TAFII250 (20). Thus H3 and H4 tails should be the initial player to accommodate chromatin remodeling signals during gene activation.
To define the specific roles of H3 tails in the transcription process, we have established HeLa cell lines stably expressing epitope-tagged H3 tails for the purification of H3 tail-interacting proteins. Our results underscored the interaction of H3 tails with multiple cellular components with activities that significantly boost p300-mediated transcription from chromatin templates, supporting the role of H3 tails as a key factor in establishing a specific transcriptional environment. Importantly, blocking repressive methylations of Lys-9 and Lys-27 of expressed H3 tails significantly antagonizes the association of known repressive factors, confirming these modifications act as major regulatory marks in the recruitment process.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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Purification and Identification of H3 Tail-interacting ProteinsHeLa cells were transfected with pFHnH3-IRESneo (wild type and K9/27R) using Lipofectamine (Invitrogen) and selected with G418 (500 µg/ml) for 2 weeks. G418-resistent colonies stably expressing H3 tails were grown in spinner culture in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's-phosphate (Irvine Scientific) supplemented with 10% bovine calf serum. Nuclear extracts were prepared as described (21). For purification of H3 tail-interacting proteins, nuclear extracts (300 mg) were fractionated through a phosphocellulose P11 column (Whatman). The P11 BC1000 and BC1500 fractions containing expressed H3 tails were dialyzed against BC300 and applied to M2-agarose affinity chromatography (Sigma). After extensive washings with BC300 containing 0.1% Nonidet P-40, H3 tail-associated proteins were eluted from M2-agarose by using FLAG peptide (200 ng/µl). Expression and purification of ectopic H3 tails were confirmed by Western blot using both FLAG (Sigma) and HA (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) antibodies. The purified H3 tail-associated proteins were analyzed by data-dependent tandem mass spectrometry using an LCQ DecaXP ion trap mass spectrometer (Thermo Finnigan) as described previously (22). The mass spectral data were searched against human protein sequence data base using SEQUEST (23). Antibodies employed in Western blot analysis were as follows: histone H1, histone H2B, and CARM1 antibodies were obtained from Upstate; HMGB1 antibody was from Abcam; TIF1
, nucleolin, and Spt16 antibodies were from Santa Cruz Biotechnology; Lamin-A/C antibody was from Sigma;
-tubulin antibody was from Cell Signaling Technology; PARP1, HP1, and G9a antibodies were kind gifts from Drs. Comai, Rice, and Stallcup, respectively; and antibodies against TRAP150 and SAP130 were kindly provided by Drs. Roeder and Martinez.
Histone Methylation AssayHMT assays were performed as described previously (24). Briefly, 1 µg of core histones or 0.3 µg of recombinant histone H3 was incubated with H3 tail-interacting proteins for 1 h at 30 °C in HMT reaction buffer (100 mM HEPES, pH 7.8, 300 mM KCl, 2.5 mM EDTA, 25 mM dithiothreitol, 50 mM sodium butyrate) in the presence of 2.3 µM [3H]AdoMet or 50 µM cold AdoMet. The antibodies used for detection of H3 tail modifications were as follows: anti-dimethyl H3-K4, anti-monomethyl H3-K9, anti-dimethyl H3-K9, anti-dimethyl H3-K36, anti-acetyl H3-K9, anti-acetyl H3-K14, anti-acetyl H3-K18, anti-acetyl H3-K23, and anti-phospho-H3-S10 antibodies were purchased from Upstate; anti-monomethyl H3-K4, anti-trimethyl H3-K4, anti-monomethyl H3-K36, and anti-trimethyl H3-K36 antibodies were purchased from Abcam; anti-dimethyl H3-R17 antibody was obtained from Dr. Stallcup; anti-trimethyl H3-K9, anti-monomethyl H3-K27, anti-dimethyl H3-K27, and anti-trimethyl H3-K27 antibodies were obtained from Dr. Rice.
In Vitro Transcription AssayChromatin templates were assembled as described (25) by using recombinant histones and the chromatin assembly factors ATP-utilizing chromatin assembly and remodeling factor and NAP1 (nucleosome assembly protein 1). The plasmid DNA template containing adenovirus major late core promoter and p53-response elements was as described (26). FLAG-tagged p53 was expressed in bacteria and purified as described recently (26). FLAG-tagged p300 protein was expressed in insect Sf9 cells and purified on M2-agarose according to standard procedure. Transcription assays were performed using p53 (15 ng), p300 (20 ng), and acetyl-CoA (10 µM) as reported previously (27) except that H3 tail-associated factors were added together with p300 and acetyl-CoA (Fig. 5A).
| RESULTS |
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Identification of H3 Tail-associated FactorsAfter a two-step purification of tail-associated proteins, proteins purified with wild type H3 tails were subjected to mass spectrometry analysis to identify individual components. Results are summarized in Fig. 2A (lane 2). Implying the chromatin-specific activity of proteins, our analysis revealed the presence of histone methyltransferases (ASH1, CARM1, EuHMT, G9a, and MLL3), histone demethylase JMJD2C (jumonji domain protein 2C), and histone deacetylases HDAC5 and HDAC9 in the H3 tail-associated proteins. We also detected a stable association of nucleolin and FACT (Spt16 and SSRP1 (Spt16 is suppressor of Ty 16 homolog; SSRP1 is structure-specific recognition protein 1)) within the purified tail-associated proteins. Because FACT and nucleolin both have been shown to assist transient release and redeposition of H2A-H2B dimers from nucleosome during transcription (30, 31), our results raise the possibility that H3 tails play a role in initial association of these activities to facilitate transcription through the nucleosome. Our results also indicated the association of several factors that have been linked to transcriptional regulation (SAP130, SAP145, SAP155, Mi-2b, TRAP150, and TIF1
). Notably, the identification of SAP130, SAP145, and SAP155, which are key subunits of splicing factor SF3b, as components of the purified H3 tail-associated proteins, support the possibility of functional linkage between the chromatin remodeling process and cotranscriptional splicing (32, 33). As expected from recent studies, we also identified the association of three histone-binding proteins (HP1
, HP1
, and HP1
) to expressed H3 tails. We assume that these interactions are established by cellular di- and trimethylation of Lys-9 of expressed H3 tails (see below). Our data also revealed the association of the H3 tail with HMGB1, H1, and PARP1 that have been shown to interact with nucleosomes (3436). Because it has been proposed that HMGB1, H1, and PARP1 can compete with each other for their binding to nucleosomes (36, 37), H3 tails localized at the entry and exit points of nucleosomal DNA could function as a regulator for their stable association to nucleosomes. Authenticity of the proteins identified by mass spectrometry was confirmed by immunoblot using available antibodies (Fig. 2B, lane 2). Taken together, we conclude that H3 tail domains expressed outside of chromatin can act as a binding motif for recruitment of multiple proteins that can regulate chromatin competency.
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-amino group of lysine residues may be mono-, di-, or trimethylated, we examined all possible methylation statuses. Our analysis revealed di- and trimethylation of Lys-4 in ectopically expressed H3 tails, which are linked to transcriptional activation, but the same analysis showed no detectable monomethylation of Lys-4. We also observed significant levels of di- and trimethylation of Lys-9 and monomethylation of Lys-27, which are generally correlated with transcriptional repression. Similar analysis using antibodies specific to methylated Lys-36 also confirmed mono- and trimethylation at Lys-36, the latter of which is linked to active transcription. In further analyses, we also detected steady-state levels of phosphorylation at Ser-10 (Fig. 3B, lane 2) and dimethylation of Arg-17 (Fig. 3C, lane 2). Thus these results clearly indicate that specific patterns of modifications can be introduced onto free H3 tails within living cells. Histone Modifying Activities of H3 Tail-associated ProteinsBecause we found that H3 tails are associated with factors that could modulate the chromatin state, we next determined histone modifying activities present in the H3 tail-associated proteins. As shown in Fig. 4A, the purified tail-associated proteins contain stimulatory activities to preferentially methylate H3 in equimolar mixtures of all four core histones (lane 2). To determine the substrate specificity of HMT activities in the tail-associated proteins, H3 methylation was further characterized by Western blot analysis using highly specific antibodies that discriminate mono-, di-, and trimethylation states of Lys-4, Lys-9, Lys-27, and Lys-36 (Fig. 4C, lanes 2, 5, and 8). Consistent with the mass spectrometry results indicating the stable association of HMTs for Lys-4 and Lys-9 methylations (Fig. 2), our analysis with antibodies recognizing methylations of Lys-4 and Lys-9 confirmed the presence of HMT activities specific for di- and trimethylation of Lys-4 and mono- and dimethylation of Lys-9. Parallel experiments with antibodies specific for methylated Lys-27 and Lys-36 revealed the presence of HMT activities capable of monomethylation of Lys-27 and trimethylation of Lys-36. These results are somewhat surprising because no known HMT (e.g. EZH2) for Lys-27 methylation could be detected in our mass spectrometry results (see Fig. 2A), and human HMT specific for Lys-36 has not yet been discovered. Therefore, future studies should identify enzymatic activities for these modifications in the H3 tail-associated proteins. It is also possible that a certain HMT shows broader specificities when associated with other factors within the purified tail-associated proteins.
Consistent with the presence of CARM1 in the purified tail-interacting proteins, additional analysis showed dimethylation of Arg-17 by the purified proteins (Fig. 4B, lane 2). Interestingly, although expressed H3 tails are acetylated at all major lysine substrates and phosphorylated at Ser-10 (Fig. 3, A and B), we could not detect any histone acetyltransferase and kinase activities in the purified proteins (data not shown). The absence of these activities argues for the dynamic action of histone acetyltransferase and kinase via their highly transient interactions with ectopic H3 tails. Taken together, these results show that H3 tails can act as a binding domain for multiple HMT activities.
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We first checked the modification status of the expressed mutant H3 tails. As expected, Western analysis revealed that mutations at Lys-9 and Lys-27 did not affect acetylations of expressed H3 tails at Lys-14, Lys-18, and Lys-23 (Fig. 3A, lane 3), but it completely abolished methylation at Lys-9 and Lys-27 (Fig. 3D, lanes 3, 6, and 9). Our analysis also confirmed remarkable effects of mutations on dimethylation at Lys-4 and monomethylation at Lys-36, but little or no effect on trimethylations at Lys-4 and Lys-36 (Fig. 3D, lanes 3, 6, and 9) and phosphorylation at Ser-10 (Fig. 3B, lane 3). Unexpectedly, a similar analysis with antibody specific for dimethylated Arg-17 (Fig. 3C, lane 3) revealed that mutations at Lys-9 and Lys-27 significantly reduced Arg-17 methylation. Notably, Western analysis with the antibody for acetylated Lys-9 generated a false-positive result (even with Lys-9 mutated to Arg) (Fig. 3A, lane 3), indicating that the antibody does not solely react with acetyl-lysine epitope but also interacts with other parts or modification of the H3 tails.
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,
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) that are known to be associated with Lys-9-methylated H3 in the mutant tail-associated proteins. In a more surprising finding, mutations of ectopic H3 tails also abolished the binding of Mi-2b, HDAC5, HDAC9, and TIF1
, which have been shown to play roles in transcription repression (3941), and two uncharacterized proteins (FLJ12800, FLJ13639). However, mass spectrometry analysis could identify within the mutant H3 tail-associated proteins all other factors copurified with the wild type H3 tails (Fig. 2A, compare lane 3 with lane 2). Again, the mass spectrometry results were confirmed by immunoblot analysis with available antibodies (Fig. 2B, lane 3). Interestingly, although G9a and CARM1 were shown to be associated with both wild type and mutant H3 tails by mass spectrometry, our Western blot analysis demonstrated that the mutations significantly inhibit association of G9a and CARM1 with ectopic H3 tail (Fig. 2B). Consistent with these results, the proteins associated with mutant H3 tails showed reduced HMT activities for mono- and dimethylation of Lys-9, which probably were caused by G9a (Fig. 4C, lanes 3 and 6), and dimethylation of Arg-17, which was by CARM1 (Fig. 4B, lane 3). Moreover, although monomethylation of Lys-27 was slightly decreased (Fig. 4C, lane 3), other HMT activities for di- and trimethylation of Lys-4 and trimethylation of Lys-36 (Fig. 4C, lanes 6 and 9) were not significantly affected by these mutations. Therefore, our results provide direct evidence that methylations at Lys-9 and Lys-27 play an important role in the interaction of H3 tails with specific factors, supporting that highly selective recognition/retention of proteins by a certain modification mark the H3 tail domain. These results also confirm the feasibility of our approach to purify H3 tail-associated factors and to identify factors associated with specific H3 tail modifications, setting the stage for more detailed analysis with differentially mutated tails in our future studies.
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) to expressed H3 tails (Fig. 2), we next checked if the mutant tail-associated proteins differentially contributed to the observed transcriptional effects. Interestingly, the proteins purified with mutant tails stimulated transcription similarly to that observed with the wild type tail-associated proteins (Fig. 5C, lanes 1921). Although HP1 and G9a have been implicated in activation as well as repression (43, 44), it is important to note that our analysis was restricted to acetylation-mediated transcription without including any HMT and AdoMet. Therefore, our future studies will determine whether isolated proteins differentially contribute to transcription depending on the methylation state of chromatin template. | DISCUSSION |
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Our analysis to examine cellular modifications of expressed H3 tails has confirmed acetylation, methylation, and phosphorylation of the tail domains at major modification sites (Fig. 3). However, the purified proteins only showed HMT activities mainly acting on H3 (Fig. 4), indicating that acetylation and phosphorylation of ectopic H3 tails arise from transient actions of cellular histone acetyltransferases and kinases. Consistent with HMT activities of the tail-associated proteins, we identified MLL3, G9a, ASH1, and EuHMT specific for Lys-4 and Lys-9 of H3 and CARM1 specific for Arg-17 of H3. However, although the tail-associated factors can methylate Lys-27 and Lys-36, we could not detect any factors that are responsible for these modifications. Although we do not have a clear explanation, it is possible that MLL3, G9a, ASH1, and/or EuHMT associated with ectopic H3 tails can methylate Lys-27 and/or Lys-36 together with other associated factors. It is also possible that Lys-27/Lys-36-specific activities stem from unknown or other associated proteins in the purified factors.
Our results also have shown that ectopic H3 tails are stably associated with chromatin-specific proteins that are repressive (HP1, HDAC5/9, Mi-2b, G9a, and TIF1
) and active (Spt16, SSRP1, nucleolin, HMGB1, and TRAP150) in transcription. Apart from a specific recognition of HP1 to trimethylated H3 tails, it is currently unclear if these proteins directly interact with ectopic H3 tails and if any H3 tail modification can assist the interaction of these proteins with H3 tails. We are currently investigating a contribution of H3 tail to the control of initial recruitments of these factors during transcription, possibly through its specific modification. We also note that SAP155/145/130 subunits of the splicing factor 3b (SF3b) are stably associated with ectopic H3 tails. These results support the possible role of H3 tail in regulation of cotranscriptional splicing processes. Indeed, recent studies identified SAP130 in GCN5L-containing STAGA and TFTC complexes (32, 33), which recognize and acetylate H3 tails. Thus our observations bear an important implication on a possible coupling between H3 tail-mediated chromatin remodeling and alternative splicing. Another important point with our results is that the H3 tail-associated proteins are devoid of bromodomain-containing factors (e.g. PCAF, TAFII250, and BRG1) that have been shown to interact with acetylated H3 tails (20). Although it needs to be determined, it may be that other modifications such as Lys-9/Lys-27 methylation and Ser-10 phosphorylation within expressed H3 tails inhibit stable association of bromodomains with acetylated H3 tails; thus it would be of considerable interest to examine whether blocking of these neighboring modifications stimulates the interaction between acetylated H3 tails and bromodomain-containing factors in future studies.
Consistent with the presence of multiple chromatin-specific activities in the H3 tail-associated proteins, our transcription assays showed that the purified proteins significantly up-regulate p300-mediated chromatin transcription (Fig. 5C, lanes 1315) but not DNA transcription. The inability of the associated proteins to enhance transcription in the absence of p300 and acetyl-CoA (Fig. 5C, lanes 1618) further indicates that chromatin acetylation (mediated by p300) is prerequisite for the action of the tail-associated proteins. The most likely interpretation of our transcription results is that the H3 tail-associated proteins interact with activators to selectively recognize p300-mediated acetylation at the promoter region of chromatin template. This promoter localization of the proteins will further induce relief of nucleosome-mediated repression at the promoter to facilitate the formation of preinitiation complex. Given their general linkage to Lys-9 methylation-induced heterochromatic gene silencing, it is unexpected to see that the HP1-containing wild type tail-associated proteins could activate chromatin transcription. However, it is notable that we only study the effect of the tail-interacting proteins on acetylation-mediated transcription, and thus HP1 proteins associated with ectopic H3 tails will have a minimal effect in transcription. Thus further characterization of the H3 tail-associated factors with various histone modifying cofactors such as HMT and histone kinase will facilitate our understanding of the molecular details for transcription regulation by the H3 tail.
Lys-9 and Lys-27 Methylation as a Key Determinant of H3 Tail-Factor InteractionsAs a first step to delineate the contribution of H3 tail modifications in association of specific factors, the effect of Lys-9 and Lys-27 methylation was investigated by their mutations to arginine. In contrast to methylations of Lys-4 and Lys-36 that are associated with active chromatin, these methylations are known to induce chromatin condensation for transcription repression (17). Unexpectedly, our experiments revealed that Lys-9 and Lys-27 mutations significantly inhibited Lys-4 dimethylation and Lys-36 monomethylation (Fig. 3D) of the ectopic H3 tails, but not Lys-4/Lys-36-specific HMT activities of the tail-associated factors (Fig. 4C, compare lane 5 and lane 6). Although we do not have a clear explanation for these results, it is tempting to speculate that the methylations of ectopic H3 tails at Lys-9 and/or Lys-27 (especially di-/trimethylations at Lys-9 and/or monomethylation at Lys-27) in vivo could either directly or indirectly modulate HMT activities specific for Lys-4 and Lys-36. This dependence will allow cells to keep balance between active methylations at Lys-4 and Lys-36 and repressive methylations at Lys-9 and Lys-27.
Our mass spectrometry analysis also indicated that proteins associated with wild type H3 tail are different from those associated with Lys-9/Lys-27-mutated H3 tail, supporting specific role of methylations at these two sites in factor recruitment. A major finding is that these two marks are specifically required for association of repressive factors, including HP1, HDAC5/9, Mi-2b, G9a, and TIF1
. We did not attempt to delineate precisely whether blocking Lys-9 methylation or Lys-27 methylation is a major cause for dissociation of these factors from the ectopic H3 tail. However, based on the pioneering works that established specific interaction between the HP1 chromodomain and Lys-9-methylated H3 tail and the recent model that describes HP1-mediated recruitment of multiple repressive factors (45, 50), we assume that Lys-9 mutation of ectopic H3 tail is the major cause for the factor dissociation. It is also possible that the mutation of lysine substrates itself would somehow affect the association of factors with ectopic H3 tails. However, the dissociation of only repressive factors by Lys-9 and Lys-27 mutations strongly argues against this possibility.
Significantly, the mutant H3 tail-associated proteins showed activity similar to that of the wild type tail-associated proteins in our transcription assays. Because we only checked effects of the proteins on acetylation-mediated transcription, it will be of interest to check if the wild type and mutant tail-associated proteins could differentially regulate transcription when chromatin templates are acetylated by p300 and methylated by H3-K9/K27-specific HMTs. It is likely that the H3-K9/K27 methylation of chromatin might conceivably result in the recruitment of repressive factors (HP1, HDAC5/9, Mi-2b, G9a and/or TIF1
) from the wild type H3 tail-associated proteins and consequent repression of p300-mediated transcription. However, because all repressive factors specifically recognizing H3-K9/K27 methylation are dissociated in the mutant tail-associated proteins, we expect to find H3-K9/K27 methylation of chromatin to minimally change the effect of the mutant tail-associated proteins in p300-mediated transcription. Although more work is required to clearly understand the details, the results presented in this study are sufficient to demonstrate a functional complexity of H3 tail-mediated transactivation accompanying the multiple modifications and recruitment processes. Application of differentially mutated H3 tails in the described purification will undoubtedly facilitate our efforts to gain a full understanding of the mechanism of action of the H3 tail and its modification in transcription.
| FOOTNOTES |
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1 Present address: Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Blvd., SRT-1014, Los Angeles, CA 90027. ![]()
2 A V-foundation scholar. To whom correspondence should be addressed: 1501 San Pablo St., ZNI, Rm. 241, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033. Tel.: 323-442-4398; Fax: 323-442-4433; E-mail: woojinan{at}usc.edu.
3 The abbreviations used are: HMT, histone methyltransferase; ASH1, absent, small, or homeotic discs 1; MLL3, mixed lineage leukemia 3; EuHMT, euchromatic histone methyltransferase; TIF-1
, transcriptional intermediary factor 1
; SAP130, spliceosome associated protein 130; TRAP150, thyroid receptor-associated protein 150; HDAC5/9, histone deacetylase 5/9; PARP1, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1; CARM1, coactivator-associated arginine methyltransferase 1; HMGB1, high-mobility group box 1; AdoMet, S-adenosylmethionine; HA, hemagglutinin. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| REFERENCES |
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