IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v410y2001i6824d10.1038_35065138.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Selective recognition of methylated lysine 9 on histone H3 by the HP1 chromo domain

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew J. Bannister

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Philip Zegerman

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Janet F. Partridge

    (MRC Human Genetics Unit, Western General Hospital)

  • Eric A. Miska

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Jean O. Thomas

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Robin C. Allshire

    (MRC Human Genetics Unit, Western General Hospital)

  • Tony Kouzarides

    (University of Cambridge)

Abstract

Heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) is localized at heterochromatin sites where it mediates gene silencing1,2. The chromo domain of HP1 is necessary for both targeting and transcriptional repression3,4. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the correct localization of Swi6 (the HP1 equivalent) depends on Clr4, a homologue of the mammalian SUV39H1 histone methylase5,6. Both Clr4 and SUV39H1 methylate specifically lysine 9 of histone H3 (ref. 6). Here we show that HP1 can bind with high affinity to histone H3 methylated at lysine 9 but not at lysine 4. The chromo domain of HP1 is identified as its methyl-lysine-binding domain. A point mutation in the chromo domain, which destroys the gene silencing activity of HP1 in Drosophila3, abolishes methyl-lysine-binding activity. Genetic and biochemical analysis in S. pombe shows that the methylase activity of Clr4 is necessary for the correct localization of Swi6 at centromeric heterochromatin and for gene silencing. These results provide a stepwise model for the formation of a transcriptionally silent heterochromatin: SUV39H1 places a ‘methyl marker’ on histone H3, which is then recognized by HP1 through its chromo domain. This model may also explain the stable inheritance of the heterochromatic state.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew J. Bannister & Philip Zegerman & Janet F. Partridge & Eric A. Miska & Jean O. Thomas & Robin C. Allshire & Tony Kouzarides, 2001. "Selective recognition of methylated lysine 9 on histone H3 by the HP1 chromo domain," Nature, Nature, vol. 410(6824), pages 120-124, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:410:y:2001:i:6824:d:10.1038_35065138
    DOI: 10.1038/35065138
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/35065138
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/35065138?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Naohiro Kuwayama & Tomoya Kujirai & Yusuke Kishi & Rina Hirano & Kenta Echigoya & Lingyan Fang & Sugiko Watanabe & Mitsuyoshi Nakao & Yutaka Suzuki & Kei-ichiro Ishiguro & Hitoshi Kurumizaka & Yukiko , 2023. "HMGA2 directly mediates chromatin condensation in association with neuronal fate regulation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Hyun-Soo Kim & Benjamin Roche & Sonali Bhattacharjee & Leila Todeschini & An-Yun Chang & Christopher Hammell & André Verdel & Robert A. Martienssen, 2024. "Clr4SUV39H1 ubiquitination and non-coding RNA mediate transcriptional silencing of heterochromatin via Swi6 phase separation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Zengyu Shao & Jiuwei Lu & Nelli Khudaverdyan & Jikui Song, 2024. "Multi-layered heterochromatin interaction as a switch for DIM2-mediated DNA methylation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Joke J F A van Vugt & Martijn de Jager & Magdalena Murawska & Alexander Brehm & John van Noort & Colin Logie, 2009. "Multiple Aspects of ATP-Dependent Nucleosome Translocation by RSC and Mi-2 Are Directed by the Underlying DNA Sequence," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(7), pages 1-14, July.
    5. Clara Lopes Novo & Emily V. Wong & Colin Hockings & Chetan Poudel & Eleanor Sheekey & Meike Wiese & Hanneke Okkenhaug & Simon J. Boulton & Srinjan Basu & Simon Walker & Gabriele S. Kaminski Schierle &, 2022. "Satellite repeat transcripts modulate heterochromatin condensates and safeguard chromosome stability in mouse embryonic stem cells," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Amanda Ames & Melissa Seman & Ajay Larkin & Gulzhan Raiymbek & Ziyuan Chen & Alex Levashkevich & Bokyung Kim & Julie Suzanne Biteen & Kaushik Ragunathan, 2024. "Epigenetic memory is governed by an effector recruitment specificity toggle in Heterochromatin Protein 1," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:410:y:2001:i:6824:d:10.1038_35065138. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.