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Hocher A, Warnecke T. Nucleosomes at the Dawn of Eukaryotes. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae029. [PMID: 38366053 PMCID: PMC10919886 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Genome regulation in eukaryotes revolves around the nucleosome, the fundamental building block of eukaryotic chromatin. Its constituent parts, the four core histones (H3, H4, H2A, H2B), are universal to eukaryotes. Yet despite its exceptional conservation and central role in orchestrating transcription, repair, and other DNA-templated processes, the origins and early evolution of the nucleosome remain opaque. Histone-fold proteins are also found in archaea, but the nucleosome we know-a hetero-octameric complex composed of histones with long, disordered tails-is a hallmark of eukaryotes. What were the properties of the earliest nucleosomes? Did ancestral histones inevitably assemble into nucleosomes? When and why did the four core histones evolve? This review will look at the evolution of the eukaryotic nucleosome from the vantage point of archaea, focusing on the key evolutionary transitions required to build a modern nucleosome. We will highlight recent work on the closest archaeal relatives of eukaryotes, the Asgardarchaea, and discuss what their histones can and cannot tell us about the early evolution of eukaryotic chromatin. We will also discuss how viruses have become an unexpected source of information about the evolutionary path toward the nucleosome. Finally, we highlight the properties of early nucleosomes as an area where new tools and data promise tangible progress in the not-too-distant future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Hocher
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Medical Sciences, London, UK
- Institute of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Tobias Warnecke
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Medical Sciences, London, UK
- Institute of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
- Trinity College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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2
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Zhao Y, Skovgaard Z, Wang Q. Regulation of adipogenesis by histone methyltransferases. Differentiation 2024; 136:100746. [PMID: 38241884 DOI: 10.1016/j.diff.2024.100746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
Epigenetic regulation is a critical component of lineage determination. Adipogenesis is the process through which uncommitted stem cells or adipogenic precursor cells differentiate into adipocytes, the most abundant cell type of the adipose tissue. Studies examining chromatin modification during adipogenesis have provided further understanding of the molecular blueprint that controls the onset of adipogenic differentiation. Unlike histone acetylation, histone methylation has context dependent effects on the activity of a transcribed region of DNA, with individual or combined marks on different histone residues providing distinct signals for gene expression. Over half of the 42 histone methyltransferases identified in mammalian cells have been investigated in their role during adipogenesis, but across the large body of literature available, there is a lack of clarity over potential correlations or emerging patterns among the different players. In this review, we will summarize important findings from studies published in the past 15 years that have investigated the role of histone methyltransferases during adipogenesis, including both protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) and lysine methyltransferases (KMTs). We further reveal that PRMT1/4/5, H3K4 KMTs (MLL1, MLL3, MLL4, SMYD2 and SET7/9) and H3K27 KMTs (EZH2) all play positive roles during adipogenesis, while PRMT6/7 and H3K9 KMTs (G9a, SUV39H1, SUV39H2, and SETDB1) play negative roles during adipogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Qinyi Wang
- Computer Science Department, California State Polytechnic University Pomona, USA
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3
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Zhao W, Xu W, Tang J, Kaushik S, Chang CEA, Zhao L. Key Amino Acid Residues of Mitochondrial Transcription Factor A Synergize with Abasic (AP) Site Dynamics To Facilitate AP-Lyase Reactions. ACS Chem Biol 2023; 18:1168-1179. [PMID: 36930463 PMCID: PMC10198963 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/18/2023]
Abstract
Human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encodes 37 essential genes and plays a critical role in mitochondrial and cellular functions. mtDNA is susceptible to damage by endogenous and exogenous chemicals. Damaged mtDNA molecules are counteracted by the redundancy, repair, and degradation of mtDNA. In response to difficult-to-repair or excessive amounts of DNA lesions, mtDNA degradation is a crucial mitochondrial genome maintenance mechanism. Nevertheless, the molecular basis of mtDNA degradation remains incompletely understood. Recently, mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) has emerged as a factor in degrading damaged mtDNA containing abasic (AP) sites. TFAM has AP-lyase activity, which cleaves DNA at AP sites. Human TFAM and its homologs contain a higher abundance of Glu than that of the proteome. To decipher the role of Glu in TFAM-catalyzed AP-DNA cleavage, we constructed TFAM variants and used biochemical assays, kinetic simulations, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to probe the functional importance of E187 near a key residue K186. Our previous studies showed that K186 is a primary residue to cleave AP-DNA via Schiff base chemistry. Here, we demonstrate that E187 facilitates β-elimination, key to AP-DNA strand scission. MD simulations showed that extrahelical confirmation of the AP lesion and the flexibility of E187 in TFAM-DNA complexes facilitate AP-lyase reactions. Together, highly abundant Lys and Glu residues in TFAM promote AP-DNA strand scission, supporting the role of TFAM in AP-DNA turnover and implying the breadth of this process across different species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenxin Zhao
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, 92521, United States
| | - Wenyan Xu
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, 92521, United States
| | - Jin Tang
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, 92521, United States
| | - Shivansh Kaushik
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, 92521, United States
| | - Chia-En A. Chang
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, 92521, United States
- Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, 92521, United States
| | - Linlin Zhao
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, 92521, United States
- Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, 92521, United States
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In vitro eradication of abasic site-mediated DNA-peptide/protein cross-links by Escherichia coli long-patch base excision repair. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102055. [PMID: 35605665 PMCID: PMC9234237 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Revised: 05/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP or abasic) sites are among the most abundant DNA lesions. Numerous proteins within different organisms ranging from bacteria to human have been demonstrated to react with AP sites to form covalent Schiff base DNA–protein cross-links (DPCs). These DPCs are unstable due to their spontaneous hydrolysis, but the half-lives of these cross-links can be as long as several hours. Such long-lived DPCs are extremely toxic due to their large sizes, which physically block DNA replication. Therefore, these adducts must be promptly eradicated to maintain genome integrity. Herein, we used in vitro reconstitution experiments with chemically synthesized, stable, and site-specific Schiff base AP-peptide/protein cross-link analogs to demonstrate for the first time that this type of DPC can be repaired by Escherichia coli (E. coli) long-patch base excision repair. We demonstrated that the repair process requires a minimum of three enzymes and five consecutive steps, including: (1) 5′-DNA strand incision of the DPC by endonuclease IV; (2 to 4) strand-displacement DNA synthesis, removal of the 5′-deoxyribose phosphate-peptide/protein adduct-containing flap, and gap-filling DNA synthesis by DNA polymerase I; and (5) strand ligation by a ligase. We further demonstrated that endonuclease IV plays a major role in incising an AP-peptide cross-link within E. coli cell extracts. We also report that eradicating model AP-protein (11.2–36.1 kDa) DPCs is less efficient than that of an AP-peptide10mer cross-link, supporting the emerging model that proteolysis is likely required for efficient DPC repair.
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Ren M, Greenberg MM, Zhou C. Participation of Histones in DNA Damage and Repair within Nucleosome Core Particles: Mechanism and Applications. Acc Chem Res 2022; 55:1059-1073. [PMID: 35271268 PMCID: PMC8983524 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.2c00041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
DNA is damaged by various endogenous and exogenous sources, leading to a diverse group of reactive intermediates that yield a complex mixture of products. The initially formed products are often metastable and can react to yield lesions that are more biologically deleterious. Mechanistic studies are frequently carried out on free DNA as the substrate. The observations do not necessarily reflect the reaction environment inside human cells where genomic DNA is condensed as chromatin in the nucleus. Chromatin is made up of monomeric structural units called nucleosomes, which are comprised of DNA wrapped around an octameric core of histone proteins (two copies each of histones H2A, H2B, H3, and H4).This account presents a summary of our work in the past decade on the mechanistic studies of DNA damage and repair in reconstituted nucleosome core particles (NCPs). A series of metastable lesions and reactive intermediates, such as abasic sites (AP), N7-methyl-2'-deoxyguanosine (MdG), and 2'-deoxyadenosin-N6-yl radical (dA•), have been independently generated in a site-specific manner in bottom-up-synthesized NCPs. Detailed mechanistic studies on these NCPs revealed that histones actively participate in DNA damage and repair processes in diverse ways. For instance, nucleophilic residues in the flexible histone N-terminal tails, such as Lys and N-terminal α-amine, react with electrophilic DNA damage and reactive intermediates. In some cases, transient intermediates are produced, leading to the promotion or suppression of damage and repair processes. In other examples, reactions with histones yield reversible or stable DNA-protein cross-links (DPCs). Histones also utilize acidic and basic residues, such as histidine and aspartic acid, to catalyze DNA strand cleavage through general acid/base catalysis. Alternatively, a Tyr in histone plays a vital role in nucleosomal DNA damage and repair via radical transfer. Finally, the reactivity discovered during the mechanistic studies has facilitated the development of new reagents and methods with applications in biotechnology.This research has enriched our knowledge of the roles of histone proteins in DNA damage and repair and their contributions to epigenetics and may have significant biological implications. The residues in histone N-terminal tails that react with DNA lesions also play pivotal roles in regulating the structure and function of chromatin, indicating that there may be cross-talk between DNA damage and repair in eukaryotic cells and epigenetic regulation. Also, in view of the biased amino acid composition of histones, these results provide hints about how the proteins have evolved to minimize their deleterious effects but maximize beneficial ones for maintaining genome integrity. Finally, previously unreported DPCs and histone post-translational modifications have been discovered through this research. The effects of these newly identified lesions on the structure and function of chromatin and their fates inside cells remain to be elucidated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengtian Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry and Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Marc M. Greenberg
- Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, United States
| | - Chuanzheng Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry and Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
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Wei X, Wang Z, Hinson C, Yang K. OUP accepted manuscript. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:3638-3657. [PMID: 35349719 PMCID: PMC9023300 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Caroline Hinson
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Kun Yang
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +1 512 471 4843;
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Ren M, Shang M, Wang H, Xi Z, Zhou C. Histones participate in base excision repair of 8-oxodGuo by transiently cross-linking with active repair intermediates in nucleosome core particles. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:257-268. [PMID: 33290564 PMCID: PMC7797075 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa1153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Revised: 11/04/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
8-Oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodGuo) is a biomarker of oxidative DNA damage and can be repaired by hOGG1 and APE1 via the base excision repair (BER) pathway. In this work, we studied coordinated BER of 8-oxodGuo by hOGG1 and APE1 in nucleosome core particles and found that histones transiently formed DNA-protein cross-links (DPCs) with active repair intermediates such as 3'-phospho-α,β-unsaturated aldehyde (PUA) and 5'-deoxyribosephosphate (dRP). The effects of histone participation could be beneficial or deleterious to the BER process, depending on the circumstances. In the absence of APE1, histones enhanced the AP lyase activity of hOGG1 by cross-linking with 3'-PUA. However, the formed histone-PUA DPCs hampered the subsequent repair process. In the presence of APE1, both the AP lyase activity of hOGG1 and the formation of histone-PUA DPCs were suppressed. In this case, histones could catalyse removal of the 5'-dRP by transiently cross-linking with the active intermediate. That is, histones promoted the repair by acting as 5'-dRP lyases. Our findings demonstrate that histones participate in multiple steps of 8-oxodGuo repair in nucleosome core particles, highlighting the diverse roles that histones may play during DNA repair in eukaryotic cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengtian Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry and Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Mengdi Shang
- State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry and Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Huawei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry and Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Zhen Xi
- State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry and Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Chuanzheng Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry and Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
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Yang K, Greenberg MM. DNA-Protein Cross-Link Formation in Nucleosome Core Particles Treated with Methyl Methanesulfonate. Chem Res Toxicol 2019; 32:2144-2151. [PMID: 31532638 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.9b00314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
N7-Methyl-2'-deoxyguanosine (MdG) is the major damage product in DNA produced by methylating agents, but it often thought to be nontoxic and nonmutagenic. MdG is chemically unstable. An abasic site (AP) is the major product produced from MdG under physiologically relevant conditions. AP formation is frequently considered to be responsible for the cytotoxic effects of MdG, but the reaction is suppressed in nucleosome core particles (NCPs). Recently, it was discovered that histone proteins form reversible DNA-protein cross-links (DPCs) with MdG in reconstituted NCPs, as well as in methylmethanesulfonate (MMS) treated cells. In this study, the formation and reactivity of MdG in MMS treated NCPs was examined at single nucleotide resolution. Sequences consisting of three or more consecutive dGs are more reactive with MMS. The efficiency and selectivity of MdG formation by MMS is largely unaffected within a NCP, although reactivity at several dGs is ∼1.5-2.5-fold higher in NCPs. DPC formation from MdG (DPCMdG) predominates over AP at all positions within the NCP. With few exceptions, DPCMdG yield is strongly dependent upon the accessibility of the major groove containing MdG to lysine-rich histone N-terminal tails. These data indicate that histone-MdG DPC formation will depend upon DNA sequence and translational position within an NCP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kun Yang
- Department of Chemistry , Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street , Baltimore , Maryland 21218 , United States
| | - Marc M Greenberg
- Department of Chemistry , Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street , Baltimore , Maryland 21218 , United States
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Yang K, Prasse C, Greenberg MM. Effect of Histone Lysine Methylation on DNA Lesion Reactivity in Nucleosome Core Particles. Chem Res Toxicol 2019; 32:910-916. [PMID: 30916939 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.9b00049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Lysine methylation is a common post-translational histone modification that regulates transcription and gene expression. The lysine residues in the histone tail also react with damaged nucleotides in chromatin, including abasic sites and N7-methyl-2'-deoxyguanosine, the major product of DNA methylating agents. Lysine monomethylation transforms the ε-amine into a secondary amine, which could be more nucleophilic and/or basic than the ε-amine in lysine, and therefore more reactive with damaged DNA. The effect of lysine methylation on the reactivity with abasic sites and N7-methyl-2'-deoxyguanosine was examined in nucleosome core particles using a methylated lysine analogue derived from cysteine. ε-Amine methylation increases the rate constant for abasic site reaction within nucleosome core particles. Reactivity at the two positions examined increased less than twofold. Mechanistic experiments indicate that faster β-elimination from an intermediate iminium ion accounts for accelerated abasic reactivity. The rate constants for nucleophilic attack (Schiff base/iminium ion formation) by the lysine and methylated lysine analogues are indistinguishable. Similarly, the rate constants describing nucleophilic attack by the lysine and methylated lysine analogues on β-2'-fluoro-N7-methyl-2'-deoxyguanosine to form DNA-protein cross-links are also within experimental error of one another. These data indicate that abasic site containing DNA will be destabilized by lysine methylation. However, these experiments do not indicate that DNA-protein cross-link formation, a recently discovered form of damage resulting from N7-guanine methylation, will be affected by this post-translational modification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kun Yang
- Department of Chemistry , Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore , Maryland 21218 , United States
| | - Carsten Prasse
- Department of Environmental Health and Engineering , Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore , Maryland 21218 , United States
| | - Marc M Greenberg
- Department of Chemistry , Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore , Maryland 21218 , United States
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Rana A, Yang K, Greenberg MM. Reactivity of the Major Product of C5'-Oxidative DNA Damage in Nucleosome Core Particles. Chembiochem 2019; 20:672-676. [PMID: 30444560 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201800663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The major pathway for DNA damage following hydrogen atom abstraction from the C5'-position results in direct strand scission and concomitant formation of a 5'-aldehyde-containing nucleotide (e.g., T-al). We determined that the half-life of alkali-labile T-al in free DNA under physiological conditions varies from 5-12 days. T-al reactivity was examined at three positions within nucleosome core particles (NCPs). β-Elimination increased >2.5-fold when T-al was proximal to the lysine-rich histone H4 tail. No difference in reactivity between free DNA and NCPs was observed when T-al was distal from the histone tails. The position-dependent involvement of histone tails in T-al elimination was gleaned from experiments with sodium cyanoborohydride and histone protein variants. The enhancement of T-al elimination in NCPs is significantly smaller than previously observed for abasic sites. Computational studies comparing elimination from T-al and abasic sites indicate that the barrier for the rate-determining step in the latter is 2.6 kcal mol-1 lower and is stabilized by a hydrogen bond between the C4-hydroxy group and phosphate leaving group. The long lifetime for T-al in NCPs, combined with what is known about its repair suggests that this DNA lesion might pose significant challenges within cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anup Rana
- Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Kun Yang
- Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Marc M Greenberg
- Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
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