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Histone H3 Arg2 methylation provides alternative directions for COMPASS

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 14, pages 1058–1060 (2007)Cite this article

Post-translational modification of histones can profoundly affect chromatin structure and function. The discovery that histone H3 Arg2 methylation is a widespread silencing modification that inhibits histone H3 Lys4 trimethylation extends our understanding of how active and silenced chromatin states are maintained.

The nucleosome forms the basic building block of chromatin and consists of 146 base pairs of DNA wrapped around a histone octamer1. In addition to compacting DNA within the nucleus, histones also serve as a canvas for post-translational modifications that regulate and dictate chromatin function. In particular, the N-terminal tails of histone molecules protrude from the nucleosome and can be modified by phosphorylation, methylation, ubiquitination and acetylation2. Two recent studies published in Nature3,4 report the discovery that asymmetric dimethylation of H3 Arg2 (H3R2me2a) is generally distributed throughout regions of silenced chromatin. This modification counteracts the active transcriptional state by blocking the function of the H3 Lys4 (H3K4) methyltransferase complexes COMPASS in yeast and ASH2/MLL in humans.

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Figure 1: H3R2me2a is found in silenced regions of chromatin and inhibits H3K4me3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robert J. Klose is in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK, rob.klose@bioch.ox.ac.uk,

    Robert J Klose

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Yi Zhang is in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Centre, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-7295, USA. yi_zhang@med.unc.edu,

    Yi Zhang

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  1. Robert J Klose
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Klose, R., Zhang, Y. Histone H3 Arg2 methylation provides alternative directions for COMPASS. Nat Struct Mol Biol 14, 1058–1060 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb1107-1058

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