Di-and tri-methylation of histone H3K36 play distinct roles in DNA double-strand break repair

Histone H3 Lys36(H3K36)methylation and its associated modifiers are crucial for DNA double-strand break(DSB)repair,but the mechanism governing whether and how different H3K36 methylation forms impact repair pathways is unclear.Here,we unveil the distinct roles of H3K36 dimethylation(H3K36me2)and H3K36 trimethylation(H3K36me3)in DSB repair via non-homologous end joining(NHEJ)or homologous recombination(HR).Yeast cells lacking H3K36me2 or H3K36me3 exhibit reduced NHEJ or HR efficiency.y Ku70 and Rfa1 bind H3K36me2-or H3K36me3-modified peptides and chromatin,respectively.Disrupting these interactions impairs y Ku70 and Rfa1 recruitment to damaged H3K36me2-or H3K36me3-rich loci,increasing DNA damage sensitivity and decreasing repair efficiency.Conversely,H3K36me2-enriched intergenic regions and H3K36me3-enriched gene bodies independently recruit y Ku70 or Rfa1 under DSB stress.Importantly,human KU70 and RPA1,the homologs of y Ku70 and Rfa1,exclusively associate with H3K36me2 and H3K36me3 in a conserved manner.These findings provide valuable insights into how H3K36me2 and H3K36me3 regulate distinct DSB repair pathways,highlighting H3K36 methylation as a critical element in the choice of DSB repair pathway.

Both combinatorial K4me0-K36me3 marks on sister histone H3s of a nucleosome are required for Dnmt3a-Dnmt3L mediated de novo DNA methylation

A nucleosome contains two copies of each histone H2A,H2B,H3 and H4.Histone H3 K4me0 and K36me3are two key chromatin marks for de novo DNA methylation catalyzed by DNA methyltransferases in mammals.However,it remains unclear whether K4me0 and K36me3 marks on both sister histone H3s regulate de novo DNA methylation independently or cooperatively.Here,taking advantage of the bivalent histone H3 system in yeast,we examined the contributions of K4 and K36 on sister histone H3s to genomic DNA methylation catalyzed by ectopically co-expressed murine Dnmt3a and Dnmt3L.The results show that lack of both K4me0 and K36me3 on one sister H3 tail,or lack of K4me0 and K36me3 on respective sister H3s results in a dramatic reduction of 5mC,revealing a synergy of two sister H3s in DNA methylation regulation.Accordingly,the Dnmt3a or Dnmt3L mutation that disrupts the interaction of Dnmt3aADD domain-H3K4me0,Dnmt3LADD domain-H3K4me0,orDnmt3aPWWP domain-H3K36me3 causes a significant reduction of DNA methylation.These results support the model that each heterodimeric Dnmt3a-Dnmt3L reads both K4me0 and K36me3 marks on one tail of sister H3s,and the dimer of heterodimeric Dnmt3a-Dnmt3L recognizes two tails of sister histone H3s to efficiently execute de novo DNA methylation.

Npac Is A Co-factor of Histone H3K36me3 and Regulates Transcriptional Elongation in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Chromatin modification contributes to pluripotency maintenance in embryonic stem cells(ESCs).However,the related mechanisms remain obscure.Here,we show that Npac,a"reader"of histone H3 lysine 36 trimethylation(H3K36me3),is required to maintain mouse ESC(mESC)pluripotency since knockdown of Npac causes mESC differentiation.Depletion of Npac in mouse embryonic fibroblasts(MEFs)inhibits reprogramming efficiency.Furthermore,our chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing(ChIP-seq)results of Npac reveal that Npac co-localizes with histone H3K36me3 in gene bodies of actively transcribed genes in mESCs.Interestingly,we find that Npac interacts with positive transcription elongation factor b(p-TEFb),Ser2-phosphorylated RNA PolⅡ(RNA PolⅡSer2P),and Ser5-phosphorylated RNA PolⅡ(RNA PolⅡSer5 P).Furthermore,depletion of Npac disrupts transcriptional elongation of the pluripotency genes Nanog and Rif1.Taken together,we propose that Npac is essential for the transcriptional elongation of pluripotency genes by recruiting p-TEFb and interacting with RNA PolⅡSer2P and Ser5P.

Cellular functions of MLL/SET-family histone H3 lysine 4 methyltransferase components

The MLL/SET family of histone H3 lysine 4 methyltransferases form enzyme complexes with core subunits ASH2L, WDR5, RbBP5, and DPY-30 （often abbreviated WRAD）, and are responsible for global histone H3 iysine 4 methylation, a hallmark of actively transcribed chromatin in mammalian cells. Accordingly, the function of these proteins is required for a wide variety of processes including stem cell differentiation, cell growth and division, body segmentation, and hematopoiesis. While most work on MLL-WRAD has focused on the function this core complex in histone methylation, recent studies indicate that MLL-WRAD proteins interact with a variety of other proteins and IncRNAs and can localize to cellular organelles beyond the nucleus. In this review, we focus on the recently described activities and interacting partners of MLL-WRAD both inside and outside the nucleus.