Mechanisms underlying the establishment and maintenance of higher-order chromatin structure

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17H03713
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Genetics/Chromosome dynamics
• Research Institution: National Institute for Basic Biology
• Principal Investigator: Nakayama Jun-ichi 基礎生物学研究所, クロマチン制御研究部門, 教授 (60373338)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 遺伝子 / 発現制御 / ヘテロクロマチン / 分裂酵母 / ユビキチン化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we focused on Clr4 methyltransferase complex (CLRC) in fission yeast, and investigated a functional link between ubiquitin modification and heterochromatin assembly. In our previous studies, we demonstrated that CLRC possesses ubiquitylation activity on histone H3 and that H3 ubiquitylation promotes Clr4's methyltransferase activity. We further examined the molecular mechanisms underlying these events and specifically demonstrated that 1) Clr4 N-terminal regions recognize ubiquitylated H3, 2) CD-adjacent N-terminal region plays an important role in Clr4's function, 3) Clr4 interacts with the CLRC through its C-terminal region.

Free Research Field

分子生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

真核細胞の染色体に存在するヘテロクロマチンは、染色体の機能やゲノム恒常性の維持、エピジェネティックな遺伝子発現に重要な役割を果たしている。ヒストンのメチル化修飾はヘテロクロマチンの重要なマークであり、そのメチル化修飾の制御機構を明らかにする研究は高次生命現象を理解する上で重要な課題である。本研究は、ヒストンのメチル化酵素の制御にユビキチン化が関わることを明らかにした画期的な成果である。