Article abstract
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 16, 777 - 781 (2009)
Published online: 28 June 2009 | doi:10.1038/nsmb.1629
H3K64 trimethylation marks heterochromatin and is dynamically remodeled during developmental reprogramming
Sylvain Daujat1, Thomas Weiss1,5, Fabio Mohn2,5, Ulrike C Lange1, Céline Ziegler-Birling3, Ulrike Zeissler1, Michael Lappe4, Dirk Schübeler2, Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla3 & Robert Schneider1
Abstract
Histone modifications are central to the regulation of all DNA-dependent processes. Lys64 of histone H3 (H3K64) lies within the globular domain at a structurally important position. We identify trimethylation of H3K64 (H3K64me3) as a modification that is enriched at pericentric heterochromatin and associated with repeat sequences and transcriptionally inactive genomic regions. We show that this new mark is dynamic during the two main epigenetic reprogramming events in mammals. In primordial germ cells, H3K64me3 is present at the time of specification, but it disappears transiently during reprogramming. In early mouse embryos, it is inherited exclusively maternally; subsequently, the modification is rapidly removed, suggesting an important role for H3K64me3 turnover in development. Taken together, our findings establish H3K64me3 as a previously uncharacterized histone modification that is preferentially localized to repressive chromatin. We hypothesize that H3K64me3 helps to 'secure' nucleosomes, and perhaps the surrounding chromatin, in an appropriately repressed state during development.
- Max-Planck-Institute for Immunobiology, Freiburg, Germany.
- Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS/INSERM/ULP, Strasbourg, France.
- Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany.
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Robert Schneider1 e-mail: schneiderr@immunbio.mpg.de
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