Article
Oncology
Reza Ghasemi, Heidi Struthers, Elisabeth R. Wilson, David H. Spencer
Summary: Transcriptional regulation of HOXA genes in AML cells with the NPM1c mutation involves CTCF-mediated chromatin loops and the opposing actions of the COMPASS and Polycomb epigenetic complexes. Deleting CTCF binding sites in AML cells reduces long-range interactions, but HOXA gene expression can still be sustained through interactions with SKAP2 enhancers or intrinsic factors within the gene cluster.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Darya Chetverina, Nadezhda E. Vorobyeva, Marina Yu Mazina, Lika Fab, Dmitry Lomaev, Alexandra Golovnina, Vladic Mogila, Pavel Georgiev, Rustam H. Ziganshin, Maksim Erokhin
Summary: The Polycomb group (PcG) and Trithorax group (TrxG) proteins are key epigenetic regulators controlling gene expression in multicellular organisms. This study investigates the recruitment and interactions of PRE DNA-binding proteins in Drosophila. The results suggest that Combgap, Zeste, Psq, and Adf1 have associations with different protein complexes involved in regulatory activities, indicating their potential multifunctional role in transcription regulation.
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Joyce Taylor-Papadimitriou, Joy M. Burchell
Summary: This review focuses on the role of PcG and TrxG complexes in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression and discusses the regulation of suppressive and active marks by methylases and demethylases. Mutations in histone methylases and demethylases in cancer can lead to repression of genes or activation of oncogenes.
Review
Plant Sciences
Lea Faivre, Daniel Schubert
Summary: Chromatin is important for transcriptional regulation, and the histone modifications H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 are usually described as mutually exclusive activator and repressor. However, recent studies show that these marks can co-exist, forming a distinctive chromatin state called bivalency. The role of bivalency in transcriptional regulation remains unclear, but it is proposed to maintain transcriptional plasticity and prevent irreversible silencing of target genes. This review explores the potential factors involved in bivalency and highlights techniques for further study.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Maksim Erokhin, Vladic Mogila, Dmitry Lomaev, Darya Chetverina
Summary: The establishment and inheritance of gene expression patterns are crucial for the development of multicellular organisms. Epigenetic regulators, such as the Polycomb group (PcG) and Trithorax group (TrxG) proteins, control the silenced and active states of genes. In Drosophila, PcG/TrxG proteins are recruited to DNA regulatory sequences known as Polycomb response elements (PREs). Recent studies have shown that PcG recruiters have multiple interactors and functions beyond the regulation of PRE repressive activity.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Najma Shaheen, Jawad Akhtar, Zain Umer, Muhammad Haider Farooq Khan, Mahnoor Hussain Bakhtiari, Murtaza Saleem, Amir Faisal, Muhammad Tariq
Summary: This study uncovers an interaction between Polycomb and CCT7 in Drosophila, showing that CCT7 plays a role in maintaining PcG gene repression. The findings support a strong genetic interaction between Pc and CCT7 mutants, and suggest that CCT7 is an important modulator of Pc recruitment at chromatin.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Yuze Yan, Miaomiao Tian, Meng Li, Gang Zhou, Qinan Chen, Mingrui Xu, Yi Hu, Wenhan Luo, Xiuxian Guo, Cheng Zhang, Hong Xie, Qing-Feng Wu, Wei Xiong, Shiguo Liu, Ji-Song Guan
Summary: Haploinsufficiency of Ash1l induces anxiety, autistic-like behavior, and alters social behavior. Deletion of Ash1l leads to synaptic pruning deficits, which affects the behavioral performance of mice.
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Camila Caldana, Alisdair R. Fernie
Summary: This study identifies a component of the Polycomb repressor complex 2 that connects plant metabolism and development through histone modification.
Article
Cell Biology
Muhammad Haider Farooq Khan, Jawad Akhtar, Zain Umer, Najma Shaheen, Ammad Shaukat, Muhammad Shahbaz Munir, Aziz Mithani, Saima Anwar, Muhammad Tariq
Summary: Polycomb group (PcG) and trithorax group (trxG) proteins play crucial roles in cell fate determination and maintenance of cellular identities. Through genetic and molecular analysis, it has been found that the two protein complexes antagonize each other to regulate gene expression patterns. In this study, a histone kinase called BALL was identified as a trxG regulator, suggesting that it plays a role in counteracting the repressive effects of PcG and maintaining gene activation.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Entomology
Jean-Michel Gibert, Frederique Peronnet
Summary: Drosophila melanogaster has played a crucial role in epigenetics, studying changes in gene function inherited through mitosis or meiosis that are not due to changes in the DNA sequence. By analyzing simple phenotypes, such as bristle position or cuticle pigmentation, identification of mutated genes led to the discovery of major chromatin regulators that are often conserved in distantly related organisms.
Article
Biology
Maksim Erokhin, Fedor Gorbenko, Dmitry Lomaev, Marina Yu Mazina, Anna Mikhailova, Azat K. Garaev, Aleksander Parshikov, Nadezhda E. Vorobyeva, Pavel Georgiev, Paul Schedl, Darya Chetverina
Summary: This study demonstrates that the repressing activity of PREs can be induced or enhanced by nearby boundary elements in Drosophila, suggesting a potential mechanism for altering chromatin structure to enable access to critical factors for PcG silencing.
Review
Cell Biology
Andrea Piunti, Ali Shilatifard
Summary: Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) and PRC2, histone modifiers, play important roles in development and disease, especially cancer. Recent studies have revealed the existence of various mutually exclusive PRC1 and PRC2 variants, providing new insights into their molecular functions and physiological importance.
NATURE REVIEWS MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ariane Mora, Jonathan Rakar, Ignacio Monedero Cobeta, Behzad Yaghmaeian Salmani, Annika Starkenberg, Stefan Thor, Mikael Boden
Summary: A prominent difference between the brain and spinal cord is their size, with the brain being larger than the spinal cord. The Polycomb Repressor Complex 2 (PRC2) plays a crucial role in promoting the expansion of the anterior central nervous system (CNS) and regulates genes involved in proliferation and immune response. By integrating transcriptomic and epigenetic data, this study reveals the distinct regulatory mechanisms of PRC2 on gene cohorts driving anterior CNS expansion.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Steven J. Wu, Scott N. Furlan, Anca B. Mihalas, Hatice S. Kaya-Okur, Abdullah H. Feroze, Samuel N. Emerson, Ye Zheng, Kalee Carson, Patrick J. Cimino, C. Dirk Keene, Jay F. Sarthy, Raphael Gottardo, Kami Ahmad, Steven Henikoff, Anoop P. Patel
Summary: In this study, we successfully adapted the CUT&Tag method to single-cell platforms for profiling chromatin landscapes at single-cell level. The analysis of H3K27me3 using scCUT&Tag distinguished cell types and allowed generation of cell-type-specific PcG landscapes.
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Frank Pui-Ling Lai, Zhixin Li, Tingwen Zhou, Adrian On Wah Leung, Sin-Ting Lau, Kathy Nga-Chu Lui, William Yu-Ming Wong, Pak-Chung Sham, Chi-Chung Hui, Elly Sau-Wai Ngan
Summary: This study reveals the crucial role of ciliary protein Kif7 in gastrointestinal motility disorders by regulating Hedgehog signaling to modulate neural crest cell development and differentiation, affecting the expression of enteric nervous system (ENS) Ezh2.
