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Histone Demethylases Promote Transcription

Cells often regulate gene expression by altering chromatin structure via posttranslational modifications to histones. For example, methylation of lysine 36 on histone H3 represses transcription. In this Paper of the Week, TaeSoo Kim and Stephen Buratowski show that overexpression of lysine demethylases overcomes transcription repression by facilitating the passage of polymerase II through repressive chromatin.

Overexpression of Jdh1 or Rph1 supresses bur1 lethality.

The authors predicted that overexpression of a histone H3 Lys³⁶ demethylase enzyme might bypass the transcriptional elongation defects that are due to deletion of the gene encoding the RNA polymerase II kinase Bur1. By overexpressing two yeast demethylases, Jhd1 and Rph1, they were able to fix the growth defect in bur1 yeast. Kim and Buratowski also showed that overexpression of Rph1 and Jhd1 decreases Lys³⁶ trimethylation within coding regions, whereas deletion of RPH1 and JHD1 increases Lys³⁶ trimethylation and decreases polymerase II occupancy within coding regions.

FOOTNOTES

See referenced article, J. Biol. Chem. 2007, 282, 20827-20835

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