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Mitotic bookmarking of genes: a novel dimension to epigenetic control

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 11, pages 583–589 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Regulatory machinery is focally organized in the interphase nucleus. The information contained in these focal nuclear microenvironments must be inherited during cell division to sustain physiologically responsive gene expression in progeny cells. Recent results suggest that focal mitotic retention of phenotypic transcription factors at promoters together with histone modifications and DNA methylation — a mechanism collectively known as gene bookmarking — is a novel parameter of inherited epigenetic control that sustains cellular identity after mitosis. The epigenetic signatures imposed by bookmarking poise genes for activation or suppression following mitosis. We discuss the implications of phenotypic transcription factor retention on mitotic chromosomes in biological control and disease.

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Figure 1: Distinct mechanisms control the protein content of a cell during mitosis.
Figure 2: The coordination of mesenchymal stem cell growth, proliferation and differentiation into three distinct lineages.
Figure 3: Mitotic retention of transcription factors in normal cells and cancer cells.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank P. Jamieson for her assistance in the preparation of this article. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants P01 AR048818 and P01 CA082834. The contents of this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Janet L. Stein and Gary S. Stein are at the Department of Cell Biology and Cancer Center, Sayyed K. Zaidi, Daniel W. Young, Jane B. Lian, Andre J. van Wijnen, University of Massachusetts Medical School and Cancer Center, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655 USA.,

    Sayyed K. Zaidi, Daniel W. Young, Jane B. Lian, Andre J. van Wijnen, Janet L. Stein & Gary S. Stein

  2. Daniel W. Young is also at Wolf, Greenfield and Sacks, Boston, Massachusetts 02210-2206.,

    Daniel W. Young

  3. Martin A. Montecino is at the Centro de Investigaciones Biomedicas, Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas y Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile.,

    Martin A. Montecino

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Zaidi, S., Young, D., Montecino, M. et al. Mitotic bookmarking of genes: a novel dimension to epigenetic control. Nat Rev Genet 11, 583–589 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2827

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