The ACF chromatin remodeling complex is essential for Polycomb repression
Abstract
Establishing and maintaining appropriate gene repression is critical for the health and development of multicellular organisms. Histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27) methylation is a chromatin modification associated with repressed facultative heterochromatin, but the mechanism of this repression remains unclear. We used a forward genetic approach to identify genes involved in transcriptional silencing of H3K27-methylated chromatin in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. We found that the N. crassa homologs of ISWI (NCU03875) and ACF1 (NCU00164) are required for repression of a subset of H3K27- methylated genes and that they form an ACF chromatin remodeling complex. This ACF complex interacts with chromatin throughout the genome, yet association with facultative heterochromatin is specifically promoted by the H3K27 methyltransferase, SET-7. H3K27-methylated genes that are upregulated when iswi or acf1 are deleted show a downstream shift of the +1 nucleosome, suggesting that proper nucleosome positioning is critical for repression of facultative heterochromatin. Our findings support a direct role for the ACF complex in Polycomb repression.
Data availability
All RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, DamID-seq and MNase-seq data generated in this study have been submitted to the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/) under accession number GSE168277. All whole genome sequencing data haven been submitted to the NCBI Sequence Read Archive(SRA, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra) under accession number PRJNA714693.
-
The ACF chromatin remodeling complex is essential for Polycomb repressionNCBI Sequence Read Archive, PRJNA714693.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
National Institutes of Health (GM127142)
- Eric U Selker
National Institutes of Health (GM093061)
- Eric U Selker
American Heart Association (14POST20450071)
- Eric U Selker
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Jerry L Workman, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, United States
Version history
- Preprint posted: June 30, 2021 (view preprint)
- Received: February 4, 2022
- Accepted: March 3, 2022
- Accepted Manuscript published: March 8, 2022 (version 1)
- Accepted Manuscript updated: March 9, 2022 (version 2)
- Version of Record published: April 25, 2022 (version 3)
- Version of Record updated: April 28, 2022 (version 4)
Copyright
© 2022, Wiles et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Metrics
-
- 2,003
- views
-
- 274
- downloads
-
- 9
- citations
Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.
Download links
Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)
Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)
Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)
Further reading
-
- Cancer Biology
- Chromosomes and Gene Expression
The chromatin-associated protein WD Repeat Domain 5 (WDR5) is a promising target for cancer drug discovery, with most efforts blocking an arginine-binding cavity on the protein called the ‘WIN’ site that tethers WDR5 to chromatin. WIN site inhibitors (WINi) are active against multiple cancer cell types in vitro, the most notable of which are those derived from MLL-rearranged (MLLr) leukemias. Peptidomimetic WINi were originally proposed to inhibit MLLr cells via dysregulation of genes connected to hematopoietic stem cell expansion. Our discovery and interrogation of small-molecule WINi, however, revealed that they act in MLLr cell lines to suppress ribosome protein gene (RPG) transcription, induce nucleolar stress, and activate p53. Because there is no precedent for an anticancer strategy that specifically targets RPG expression, we took an integrated multi-omics approach to further interrogate the mechanism of action of WINi in human MLLr cancer cells. We show that WINi induce depletion of the stock of ribosomes, accompanied by a broad yet modest translational choke and changes in alternative mRNA splicing that inactivate the p53 antagonist MDM4. We also show that WINi are synergistic with agents including venetoclax and BET-bromodomain inhibitors. Together, these studies reinforce the concept that WINi are a novel type of ribosome-directed anticancer therapy and provide a resource to support their clinical implementation in MLLr leukemias and other malignancies.
-
- Chromosomes and Gene Expression
- Immunology and Inflammation
Ikaros is a transcriptional factor required for conventional T cell development, differentiation, and anergy. While the related factors Helios and Eos have defined roles in regulatory T cells (Treg), a role for Ikaros has not been established. To determine the function of Ikaros in the Treg lineage, we generated mice with Treg-specific deletion of the Ikaros gene (Ikzf1). We find that Ikaros cooperates with Foxp3 to establish a major portion of the Treg epigenome and transcriptome. Ikaros-deficient Treg exhibit Th1-like gene expression with abnormal production of IL-2, IFNg, TNFa, and factors involved in Wnt and Notch signaling. While Ikzf1-Treg-cko mice do not develop spontaneous autoimmunity, Ikaros-deficient Treg are unable to control conventional T cell-mediated immune pathology in response to TCR and inflammatory stimuli in models of IBD and organ transplantation. These studies establish Ikaros as a core factor required in Treg for tolerance and the control of inflammatory immune responses.