O-GlcNAc-Modification of NSL3 at Thr755 Site Maintains the Holoenzyme Activity of MOF/NSL Histone Acetyltransfease Complex

O-GlcNAcylation: the sweet side of epigenetics

Histones display a wide variety of post-translational modifications, including acetylation, methylation, and phosphorylation. These epigenetic modifications can influence chromatin structure and function without altering the DNA sequence. Histones can also undergo post-translational O-GlcNAcylation, a rather understudied modification that plays critical roles in almost all biological processes and is added and removed by O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase and O-GlcNAcase, respectively. This review provides a current overview of our knowledge of how O-GlcNAcylation impacts the histone code both directly and by regulating other chromatin modifying enzymes. This highlights the pivotal emerging role of O-GlcNAcylation as an essential epigenetic marker.

Dysregulation of hexosamine biosynthetic pathway wiring metabolic signaling circuits in cancer

Metabolite sensing, a fundamental biological process, plays a key role in metabolic signaling circuit rewiring. Hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP) is a glucose metabolic pathway essential for the synthesis of uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc), which senses key nutrients and integrally maintains cellular homeostasis. UDP-GlcNAc dynamically regulates protein N-glycosylation and O-linked-N-acetylglucosamine modification (O-GlcNAcylation). Dysregulated HBP flux leads to abnormal protein glycosylation, and contributes to cancer development and progression by affecting protein function and cellular signaling. Furthermore, O-GlcNAcylation regulates cellular signaling pathways, and its alteration is linked to various cancer characteristics. Additionally, recent findings have suggested a close association between HBP stimulation and cancer stemness; an elevated HBP flux promotes cancer cell conversion to cancer stem cells and enhances chemotherapy resistance via downstream signal activation. In this review, we highlight the prominent roles of HBP in metabolic signaling and summarize the recent advances in HBP and its downstream signaling, relevant to cancer.

Two distinct males absent on the first (MOF)-containing histone acetyltransferases are involved in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in different ways in human cells

Human males absent on the first (MOF), a histone acetyltransferase (HAT), forms male-specific lethal (MSL) and non-specific lethal (NSL), two multiprotein HATs, in cells. MSL was originally discovered in dosage compensation study in Drosophila that can specifically acetylate H4K16, while NSL can simultaneously catalyze the H4 at K5, K8, and K16 sites. However, comparative studies of the two HATs in regulating specific biological functions are rarely reported. Here, we present evidence to argue that MSL and NSL function in different ways in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. At first, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated MSL1 (a key subunit of the MSL)-knockout (KO) and NSL3 (a key subunit of the NSL)-KO cells seem to prefer to grow in clusters. Interestingly, the former promotes cell survival and clonal formation, while the latter has the opposite effect on it. Cell staining revealed that MSL1-KO leads to multipolarized spindles, while NSL3-KO causes more lumen-like cells. Furthermore, in Transwell experiments, silencing of MSL1 promotes cell invasion in 293 T, MCF-7, and MDA-MB-231 cells. In contrast, the inhibitory effects on cell invasion are observed in the same NSL3-silenced cells. Consistent with this, mesenchymal biomarkers, like N-cadherin, vimentin, and snail, are negatively correlated with the expression level of MSL1; however, a positive relationship between these proteins and NSL3 in cells has been found. Further studies have clarified that MSL1, but not NSL3, can specifically bind to the E-box-containing Snail promoter region and thereby negatively regulate Snail transactivation. Also, silencing of MSL1 promotes the lung metastasis of B16F10 melanoma cells in mice. Finally, ChIP-Seq analysis indicated that the NSL may be mainly involved in phosphoinositide-mediated signaling pathways. Taken together, the MOF-containing MSL and NSL HATs may regulate the EMT process in different ways in order to respond to different stimuli.

The Non-Specific Lethal (NSL) Histone Acetyltransferase Complex Transcriptionally Regulates Yin Yang 1-Mediated Cell Proliferation in Human Cells

The human males absent on the first (MOF)-containing non-specific lethal (NSL) histone acetyltransferase (HAT) complex acetylates histone H4 at lysine K5, K8, and K16. This complex shares several subunits with other epigenetic regulatory enzymes, which highlights the complexity of its intracellular function. However, the effect of the NSL HAT complex on the genome and target genes in human cells is still unclear. By using a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated NSL3-knockout 293T cell line and chromatin immunoprecipitation-sequencing (ChIP-Seq) approaches, we identified more than 100 genes as NSL HAT transcriptional targets, including several transcription factors, such as Yin Yang 1 (YY1) which are mainly involved in cell proliferation, biological adhesion, and metabolic processes. We found here that the ChIP-Seq peaks of MOF and NSL3 co-localized with H4K16ac, H3K4me2, and H3K4me3 at the transcriptional start site of YY1. In addition, both the mRNA and protein expression levels of YY1 were regulated by silencing or overexpressing NSL HAT. Interestingly, the expression levels of cell division cycle 6, a downstream target gene of YY1, were regulated by MOF or NSL3. In addition, the suppressed clonogenic ability of HepG2 cells caused by siNSL3 was reversed by overexpressing YY1, suggesting the involvement of YY1 in NSL HAT functioning. Additionally, de novo motif analysis of MOF and NSL3 targets indicated that the NSL HAT complex may recognize the specific DNA-binding sites in the promoter region of target genes in order to regulate their transcription.

O-GlcNAcylation links oncogenic signals and cancer epigenetics

Prevalent dysregulation of epigenetic modifications plays a pivotal role in cancer. Targeting epigenetic abnormality is a new strategy for cancer therapy. Understanding how conventional oncogenic factors cause epigenetic abnormality is of great basic and translational value. O-GlcNAcylation is a protein modification which affects physiology and pathophysiology. In mammals, O-GlcNAcylation is catalyzed by one single enzyme OGT and removed by one single enzyme OGA. O-GlcNAcylation is affected by the availability of the donor, UDP-GlcNAc, generated by the serial enzymatic reactions in the hexoamine biogenesis pathway (HBP). O-GlcNAcylation regulates a wide spectrum of substrates including many proteins involved in epigenetic modification. Like epigenetic modifications, abnormality of O-GlcNAcylation is also common in cancer. Studies have revealed substantial impact on HBP enzymes and OGT/OGA by oncogenic signals. In this review, we will first summarize how oncogenic signals regulate HBP enzymes, OGT and OGA in cancer. We will then integrate this knowledge with the up to date understanding how O-GlcNAcylation regulates epigenetic machinery. With this, we propose a signal axis from oncogenic signals through O-GlcNAcylation dysregulation to epigenetic abnormality in cancer. Further elucidation of this axis will not only advance our understanding of cancer biology but also provide new revenues towards cancer therapy.

[Precise identification of O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine peptides based on O-mesitylenesulfonylhydroxylamine elimination reaction]

氧连接氮乙酰葡萄糖胺(O-GlcNAc)是一种重要的蛋白质翻译后修饰,它在维持机体正常的生命活动中发挥着重要作用。许多研究证实,O-GlcNAc糖基化修饰稳态的破坏与人类多种疾病的发生相关,大规模富集鉴定O-GlcNAc糖基化修饰蛋白有助于发现新的临床疾病诊断标志物。由于O-GlcNAc糖基化修饰丰度较低,形成的糖苷键不稳定,O-GlcNAc糖基化修饰蛋白/肽段的富集鉴定面临一定挑战。近年来,全乙酰化的非天然糖代谢标记技术被广泛应用于O-GlcNAc糖基化修饰蛋白/肽段的富集鉴定。然而,最新的研究发现,在细胞代谢标记过程中,全乙酰化的非天然单糖会同时标记半胱氨酸的巯基而引入半胱氨酸巯基-叠氮糖人为修饰物。该副反应在一定程度上干扰了O-GlcNAc糖基化修饰蛋白/肽段的富集鉴定。鉴于此,研究发展了一种通过三甲基苯磺酰羟胺(MSH)特异性氧化消除半胱氨酸巯基-叠氮糖人为修饰物的方法,进而显著提高O-GlcNAc糖基化修饰肽段的精准鉴定。该方法建立于温和的磷酸钠缓冲液(50 mmol/L, pH=8)体系,利用过量的MSH,于95 ℃避光振荡反应30 min,可完全消除半胱氨酸巯基-叠氮糖人为修饰物。该方法应用于Hela细胞中,可有效消除叠氮全乙酰化半乳糖胺(Ac₄GalNAz)代谢产生的半胱氨酸巯基-叠氮糖人为修饰物,从而成功富集鉴定到157条O-GlcNAc糖基化修饰肽段,归属于130个蛋白质。该方法有效去除了半胱氨酸巯基-叠氮糖人为修饰物对代谢标记结果的干扰,为非天然糖代谢标记技术在糖蛋白组学分析中的应用提供了新的研究策略。

Nutrient regulation of the flow of genetic information by O-GlcNAcylation

O-linked-β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is a post-translational modification (PTM) that is actively added to and removed from thousands of intracellular proteins. As a PTM, O-GlcNAcylation tunes the functions of a protein in various ways, such as enzymatic activity, transcriptional activity, subcellular localization, intermolecular interactions, and degradation. Its regulatory roles often interplay with the phosphorylation of the same protein. Governed by 'the Central Dogma', the flow of genetic information is central to all cellular activities. Many proteins regulating this flow are O-GlcNAc modified, and their functions are tuned by the cycling sugar. Herein, we review the regulatory roles of O-GlcNAcylation on the epigenome, in DNA replication and repair, in transcription and in RNA processing, in protein translation and in protein turnover.