Chaperoning RNA Polymerase II through repressive chromatin

ABSTRACT Asf1 is a conserved histone H3/H4 chaperone that can assemble and disassemble nucleosomes and promote histone acetylation. Set2 is an H3 K36 methyltransferase. The functions of these proteins intersect in the context of transcription elongation by RNA polymerase II: both contribute to the establishment of repressive chromatin structures that inhibit spurious intragenic transcription. Here we characterize further interactions between budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) Asf1 and Set2 using assays of intragenic transcription, H3/H4 posttranslational modification, coding region cross-linking of Asf1 and Set2, and cooccurrence of Asf1 and Set2 in protein complexes. We find that at some genes Asf1 and Set2 control chromatin metabolism as components of separate pathways. However, the existence of a low-abundance complex containing both proteins suggests that Asf1 and Set2 can more directly collaborate in chromatin regulation. Consistent with this possibility, we show that Asf1 stimulates Set2 occupancy of the coding region of a highly transcribed gene by a mechanism that depends on Asf1 binding to H3/H4. This function of Asf1 promotes the switch from di- to trimethylation of H3 K36 at that gene. These results support the view that Set2 function in chromatin metabolism can intimately involve histone chaperone Asf1.

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A novel SH2 recognition mechanism recruits Spt6 to the doubly phosphorylated RNA polymerase II linker at sites of transcription

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.28723 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Matthew A Sdano ◽

James M Fulcher ◽

Sowmiya Palani ◽

Mahesh B Chandrasekharan ◽

Timothy J Parnell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rna Polymerase ◽

Rna Polymerase Ii ◽

Sh2 Domain ◽

Heptad Repeat ◽

Side Chain ◽

Phosphate Binding ◽

Recognition Mechanism ◽

Repressive Chromatin ◽

Repeat Domain

We determined that the tandem SH2 domain of S. cerevisiae Spt6 binds the linker region of the RNA polymerase II subunit Rpb1 rather than the expected sites in its heptad repeat domain. The 4 nM binding affinity requires phosphorylation at Rpb1 S1493 and either T1471 or Y1473. Crystal structures showed that pT1471 binds the canonical SH2 pY site while pS1493 binds an unanticipated pocket 70 Å distant. Remarkably, the pT1471 phosphate occupies the phosphate-binding site of a canonical pY complex, while Y1473 occupies the position of a canonical pY side chain, with the combination of pT and Y mimicking a pY moiety. Biochemical data and modeling indicate that pY1473 can form an equivalent interaction, and we find that pT1471/pS1493 and pY1473/pS1493 combinations occur in vivo. ChIP-seq and genetic analyses demonstrate the importance of these interactions for recruitment of Spt6 to sites of transcription and for the maintenance of repressive chromatin.

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Nutrient-regulated gene expression in eukaryotes

Biochemical Society Symposium ◽

10.1042/bss0730085 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 73 ◽

pp. 85-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Richard J. Reece ◽

Laila Beynon ◽

Stacey Holden ◽

Amanda D. Hughes ◽

Karine Rébora ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Rna Polymerase ◽

Rna Polymerase Ii ◽

Transcriptional Control ◽

Direct Interaction ◽

Signalling Pathways ◽

A Cell ◽

One Step ◽

Higher Eukaryotes ◽

Regulated Gene Expression

The recognition of changes in environmental conditions, and the ability to adapt to these changes, is essential for the viability of cells. There are numerous well characterized systems by which the presence or absence of an individual metabolite may be recognized by a cell. However, the recognition of a metabolite is just one step in a process that often results in changes in the expression of whole sets of genes required to respond to that metabolite. In higher eukaryotes, the signalling pathway between metabolite recognition and transcriptional control can be complex. Recent evidence from the relatively simple eukaryote yeast suggests that complex signalling pathways may be circumvented through the direct interaction between individual metabolites and regulators of RNA polymerase II-mediated transcription. Biochemical and structural analyses are beginning to unravel these elegant genetic control elements.

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