Features of cryptic promoters and their varied reliance on bromodomain-containing factors

Unique and Shared Roles for Histone H3K36 Methylation States in Transcription Regulation Functions

Set2 co-transcriptionally methylates lysine 36 of histone H3 (H3K36), producing mono-, di-, and trimethylation (H3K36me1/2/3). These modifications recruit or repel chromatin effector proteins important for transcriptional fidelity, mRNA splicing, and DNA repair. However, it was not known whether the different methylation states of H3K36 have distinct biological functions. Here, we use engineered forms of Set2 that produce different lysine methylation states to identify unique and shared functions for H3K36 modifications. Although H3K36me1/2 and H3K36me3 are functionally redundant in many SET2 deletion phenotypes, we found that H3K36me3 has a unique function related to Bur1 kinase activity and FACT (facilitates chromatin transcription) complex function. Further, during nutrient stress, either H3K36me1/2 or H3K36me3 represses high levels of histone acetylation and cryptic transcription that arises from within genes. Our findings uncover the potential for the regulation of diverse chromatin functions by different H3K36 methylation states.

The many lives of KATs - detectors, integrators and modulators of the cellular environment

Research over the past three decades has firmly established lysine acetyltransferases (KATs) as central players in regulating transcription. Recent advances in genomic sequencing, metabolomics, animal models and mass spectrometry technologies have uncovered unexpected new roles for KATs at the nexus between the environment and transcriptional regulation. Thousands of reversible acetylation sites have been mapped in the proteome that respond dynamically to the cellular milieu and maintain major processes such as metabolism, autophagy and stress response. Concurrently, researchers are continuously uncovering how deregulation of KAT activity drives disease, including cancer and developmental syndromes characterized by severe intellectual disability. These novel findings are reshaping our view of KATs away from mere modulators of chromatin to detectors of the cellular environment and integrators of diverse signalling pathways with the ability to modify cellular phenotype.

Novel genetic tools for probing individual H3 molecules in each nucleosome

In eukaryotes, genomic DNA is packaged into the nucleus together with histone proteins, forming chromatin. The fundamental repeating unit of chromatin is the nucleosome, a naturally symmetric structure that wraps DNA and is the substrate for numerous regulatory post-translational modifications. However, the biological significance of nucleosomal symmetry until recently had been unexplored. To investigate this issue, we developed an obligate pair of histone H3 heterodimers, a novel genetic tool that allowed us to modulate modification sites on individual H3 molecules within nucleosomes in vivo. We used these constructs for molecular genetic studies, for example demonstrating that H3K36 methylation on a single H3 molecule per nucleosome in vivo is sufficient to restrain cryptic transcription. We also used asymmetric nucleosomes for mass spectrometric analysis of dependency relationships among histone modifications. Furthermore, we extended this system to the centromeric H3 isoform (Cse4/CENP-A), gaining insights into centromeric nucleosomal symmetry and structure. In this review, we summarize our findings and discuss the utility of this novel approach.

A synthetic biology approach to probing nucleosome symmetry

The repeating subunit of chromatin, the nucleosome, includes two copies of each of the four core histones, and several recent studies have reported that asymmetrically-modified nucleosomes occur at regulatory elements in vivo. To probe the mechanisms by which histone modifications are read out, we designed an obligate pair of H3 heterodimers, termed H3X and H3Y, which we extensively validated genetically and biochemically. Comparing the effects of asymmetric histone tail point mutants with those of symmetric double mutants revealed that a single methylated H3K36 per nucleosome was sufficient to silence cryptic transcription in vivo. We also demonstrate the utility of this system for analysis of histone modification crosstalk, using mass spectrometry to separately identify modifications on each H3 molecule within asymmetric nucleosomes. The ability to generate asymmetric nucleosomes in vivo and in vitro provides a powerful and generalizable tool to probe the mechanisms by which H3 tails are read out by effector proteins in the cell.

Suppression of intragenic transcription requires the MOT1 and NC2 regulators of TATA-binding protein

Chromatin structure in transcribed regions poses a barrier for intragenic transcription. In a comprehensive study of the yeast chromatin remodelers and the Mot1p-NC2 regulators of TATA-binding protein (TBP), we detected synthetic genetic interactions indicative of suppression of intragenic transcription. Conditional depletion of Mot1p or NC2 in absence of the ISW1 remodeler, but not in the absence of other chromatin remodelers, activated the cryptic FLO8 promoter. Likewise, conditional depletion of Mot1p or NC2 in deletion backgrounds of the H3K36 methyltransferase Set2p or the Asf1p-Rtt106p histone H3-H4 chaperones, important factors involved in maintaining a repressive chromatin environment, resulted in increased intragenic FLO8 transcripts. Activity of the cryptic FLO8 promoter is associated with reduced H3 levels, increased TBP binding and tri-methylation of H3K4 and is independent of Spt-Ada-Gcn5-acetyltransferase function. These data reveal cooperation of negative regulation of TBP with specific chromatin regulators to inhibit intragenic transcription.

The great repression: chromatin and cryptic transcription

The eukaryotic chromatin structure is essential in correctly defining transcription units. Impairing this structure can activate cryptic promoters, and lead to the accumulation of aberrant RNA transcripts. Here we discuss critical pathways that are responsible for the repression of cryptic transcription and the maintenance of genome integrity.

Histone chaperones Nap1 and Vps75 regulate histone acetylation during transcription elongation

Histone chaperones function in chromatin assembly and disassembly, suggesting they have important regulatory roles in transcription elongation. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae proteins Nap1 and Vps75 are structurally related, evolutionarily conserved histone chaperones. We showed that Nap1 genetically interacts with several transcription elongation factors and that both Nap1 and Vps75 interact with the RNA polymerase II kinase, CTK1. Loss of NAP1 or VPS75 suppressed cryptic transcription within the open reading frame (ORF) observed when strains are deleted for the kinase CTK1. Loss of the histone acetyltransferase Rtt109 also suppressed ctk1-dependent cryptic transcription. Vps75 regulates Rtt109 function, suggesting that they function together in this process. Histone H3 K9 was found to be the important lysine that is acetylated by Rtt109 during ctk1-dependent cryptic transcription. We showed that both Vps75 and Nap1 regulate the relative level of H3 K9 acetylation in the STE11 ORF. This supports a model in which Nap1, like Vps75, directly regulates Rtt109 activity or regulates the assembly of acetylated chromatin. Although Nap1 and Vps75 share many similarities, due to their distinct interactions with SET2, Nap1 and Vps75 may also play separate roles during transcription elongation. This work sheds further light on the importance of histone chaperones as general regulators of transcription elongation.

Transcription-associated histone modifications and cryptic transcription

Eukaryotic genomes are packaged into chromatin, a highly organized structure consisting of DNA and histone proteins. All nuclear processes take place in the context of chromatin. Modifications of either DNA or histone proteins have fundamental effects on chromatin structure and function, and thus influence processes such as transcription, replication or recombination. In this review we highlight histone modifications specifically associated with gene transcription by RNA polymerase II and summarize their genomic distributions. Finally, we discuss how (mis-)regulation of these histone modifications perturbs chromatin organization over coding regions and results in the appearance of aberrant, intragenic transcription. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: RNA polymerase II Transcript Elongation.

Chromatin remodelers Isw1 and Chd1 maintain chromatin structure during transcription by preventing histone exchange

Set2-mediated methylation of histone H3 Lys36 (H3K36) is a mark associated with the coding sequences of actively transcribed genes, yet plays a negative role during transcription elongation. It prevents trans-histone exchange over coding regions and signals for histone deacetylation in the wake of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) passage. We have found that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae the Isw1b chromatin-remodeling complex is specifically recruited to open reading frames (ORFs) by H3K36 methylation through the PWWP domain of its Ioc4 subunit in vivo and in vitro. Isw1b acts in conjunction with Chd1 to regulate chromatin structure by preventing trans-histone exchange from taking place over coding regions and thus maintains chromatin integrity during transcription elongation by RNA polymerase II.

Set2 methylation of histone H3 lysine 36 suppresses histone exchange on transcribed genes

Set2-mediated methylation of histone H3 at Lys 36 (H3K36me) is a co-transcriptional event that is necessary for the activation of the Rpd3S histone deacetylase complex, thereby maintaining the coding region of genes in a hypoacetylated state. In the absence of Set2, H3K36 or Rpd3S acetylated histones accumulate on open reading frames (ORFs), leading to transcription initiation from cryptic promoters within ORFs. Although the co-transcriptional deacetylation pathway is well characterized, the factors responsible for acetylation are as yet unknown. Here we show that, in yeast, co-transcriptional acetylation is achieved in part by histone exchange over ORFs. In addition to its function of targeting and activating the Rpd3S complex, H3K36 methylation suppresses the interaction of H3 with histone chaperones, histone exchange over coding regions and the incorporation of new acetylated histones. Thus, Set2 functions both to suppress the incorporation of acetylated histones and to signal for the deacetylation of these histones in transcribed genes. By suppressing spurious cryptic transcripts from initiating within ORFs, this pathway is essential to maintain the accuracy of transcription by RNA polymerase II.

The replication-independent histone H3-H4 chaperones HIR, ASF1, and RTT106 co-operate to maintain promoter fidelity

RNA polymerase II initiates from low complexity sequences so cells must reliably distinguish "real" from "cryptic" promoters and maintain fidelity to the former. Further, this must be performed under a range of conditions, including those found within inactive and highly transcribed regions. Here, we used genome-scale screening to identify those factors that regulate the use of a specific cryptic promoter and how this is influenced by the degree of transcription over the element. We show that promoter fidelity is most reliant on histone gene transactivators (Spt10, Spt21) and H3-H4 chaperones (Asf1, HIR complex) from the replication-independent deposition pathway. Mutations of Rtt106 that abrogate its interactions with H3-H4 or dsDNA permit extensive cryptic transcription comparable with replication-independent deposition factor deletions. We propose that nucleosome shielding is the primary means to maintain promoter fidelity, and histone replacement is most efficiently mediated in yeast cells by a HIR/Asf1/H3-H4/Rtt106 pathway.