A boisterous histone

杨柳

Madhani/Elsevier
& V: n/ K# V; k9 I' M+ a. K% K4 j# e! N0 Z0 w
Avariant histone called H2A.Z (Htz1 in budding yeast) is an antisilencing protein, according to Marc Menenghini, Michelle Wu, and Hiten Madhani (University of California, San Francisco, CA). They propose that Htz1 protects the transcriptionally active euchromatic state from the threat of spreading heterochromatin.
8 m6 ^6 k/ x0 X, T* P% Q
% {" N  U  D9 t/ b) l3 eWhen H2A.Z is added in vitro to replace H2A, the resulting nucleosomes are resistant to higher order condensation. But the in vivo significance of this result was unclear. Now, along comes the new array data. "We got this bizarre result," says Madhani. "The genes that were repressed  were clustered near telomeres." Other repressed genes were huddled near the mating region, which is the other major silenced region in yeast chromatin.
. P, I9 o8 w& O5 R" q
. g. Y& k+ b2 |( s: c( H& U  MThe repression was partially reversed by deleting either the silencing protein Sir2 or a mating region silencing element. Repression after Htz1 deletion was associated with the spread of Sir2 and Sir3 from both telomeres and the mating region into normally active, euchromatic regions, and reduced levels of euchromatin-associated marks such as acetylated histone H4.7 f/ w+ w3 {+ o. P: \- \1 t) H
% @8 @/ _/ @7 \% X$ M* c
A simple spreading event may not explain all, however. Only 30% of genes near telomeres require Htz1 to maintain their expression levels. And although Sir2 and acetylated H4 levels changed in euchromatic regions when Htz1 was deleted, they never reached the levels seen in heterochromatin.
6 ^1 L( P0 j# Z2 R$ `( \
/ o* R, d4 V4 P$ W+ M$ P' o2 rLoss of a chromatin boundary element showed synergistic effects with Htz1 deletion, and Madhani believes there may be still other systems that protect against the insidious spread of heterochromatin. When those systems are understood, he says, we may realize that euchromatin has its own maintenance and spreading mechanisms and thus is "morally equivalent to heterochromatin.": a  r4 o$ I! d0 p8 Y0 ~: x% k
# }# X  g! |' a9 ?3 z% w9 g, o
Reference:, `8 G! I8 l4 l
( M7 H! }/ U0 X$ l; G' s$ O  l( l
Meneghini, M.D., et al. 2003. Cell. 112:725–736.(Htz1 protects euchromatic marks from enc)