The MYST family of histone acetyltransferases.

Multiple chromatin modifying proteins and multisubunit complexes have been characterized in recent years. Histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activities have been the most thoroughly studied, both biochemically and functionally. This review sums up the current knowledge on a specific group of proteins that is extremely well conserved throughout evolution, the MYST family of histone acetyltransferases. These proteins play critical roles in various nuclear functions and the control of cell proliferation.

Role of an ING1 growth regulator in transcriptional activation and targeted histone acetylation by the NuA4 complex.

The yeast NuA4 complex is a histone H4 and H2A acetyltransferase involved in transcription regulation and essential for cell cycle progression. We identify here a novel subunit of the complex, Yng2p, a plant homeodomain (PHD)-finger protein homologous to human p33/ING1, which has tumor suppressor activity and is essential for p53 function. Mass spectrometry, immunoblotting, and immunoprecipitation experiments confirm the stable stoichiometric association of this protein with purified NuA4. Yeast cells harboring a deletion of the YNG2 gene show severe growth phenotype and have gene-specific transcription defects. NuA4 complex purified from the mutant strain is low in abundance and shows weak histone acetyltransferase activity. We demonstrate conservation of function by the requirement of Yng2p for p53 to function as a transcriptional activator in yeast. Accordingly, p53 interacts with NuA4 in vitro and in vivo, an interaction reminiscent of the p53-ING1 physical link in human cells. The growth defect of Delta yng2 cells can be rescued by the N-terminal part of the protein, lacking the PHD-finger. While Yng2 PHD-finger is not required for p53 interaction, it is necessary for full expression of the p53-responsive gene and other NuA4 target genes. Transcriptional activation by p53 in vivo is associated with targeted NuA4-dependent histone H4 hyperacetylation, while histone H3 acetylation levels remain unchanged. These results emphasize the essential role of the NuA4 complex in the control of cell proliferation through gene-specific transcription regulation. They also suggest that regulation of mammalian cell proliferation by p53-dependent transcriptional activation functions through recruitment of an ING1-containing histone acetyltransferase complex.

The yeast NuA4 and Drosophila MSL complexes contain homologous subunits important for transcription regulation.

In Drosophila, the MSL complex is required for the dosage compensation of X-linked genes in males and contains a histone acetyltransferase, MOF. A point mutation in the MOF acetyl-CoA-binding site results in male-specific lethality. Yeast Esa1p, a MOF homolog, is essential for cell cycle progression and is the catalytic subunit of the NuA4 acetyltransferase complex. Here we report that NuA4 purified from yeast with a point mutation in the acetyl-CoA-binding domain of Esa1p exhibits a strong decrease in histone acetyltransferase activity, yet has no effect on growth. We demonstrate that Eaf3p (Esa1p-associated factor-3 protein), a yeast protein homologous to the Drosophila dosage compensation protein MSL3, is also a stable component of the NuA4 complex. Unlike other subunits of the complex, it is not essential, and the deletion mutant has no growth phenotype. NuA4 purified from the mutant strain has a decreased apparent molecular mass, but retains wild-type levels of histone H4 acetyltransferase activity. The EAF3 deletion and the ESA1 mutation lead to a decrease in PHO5 gene expression; the EAF3 deletion also significantly reduces HIS4 and TRP4 expressions. These results, together with those previously obtained with both the MSL and NuA4 complexes, underscore the importance of targeted histone H4 acetylation for the gene-specific activation of transcription.

NuA4, an essential transcription adaptor/histone H4 acetyltransferase complex containing Esa1p and the ATM-related cofactor Tra1p.

Post-translational acetylation of histone H4 N-terminal tail in chromatin has been associated with several nuclear processes including transcription. We report the purification and characterization of a native multisubunit complex (NuA4) from yeast that acetylates nucleosomal histone H4. NuA4 has an apparent molecular mass of 1.3 MDa. All four conserved lysines of histone H4 can be acetylated by NuA4. We have identified the catalytic subunit of the complex as the product of ESA1, an essential gene required for cell cycle progression in yeast. Antibodies against Esa1p specifically immunoprecipitate NuA4 activity whereas the complex purified from a temperature-sensitive esa1 mutant loses its acetyltransferase activity at the restrictive temperature. Additionally, we have identified another subunit of the complex as the product of TRA1, an ATM-related essential gene homologous to human TRRAP, an essential cofactor for c-Myc- and E2F-mediated oncogenic transformation. Finally, the ability of NuA4 to stimulate GAL4-VP16-driven transcription from chromatin templates in vitro is also lost in the temperature-sensitive esa1 mutant. The function of the essential Esa1 protein as the HAT subunit of NuA4 and the presence of Tra1p, a putative transcription activator-interacting subunit, supports an essential link between nuclear H4 acetylation, transcriptional regulation and cell cycle control.

Identification and analysis of yeast nucleosomal histone acetyltransferase complexes.

Many studies have linked acetylation of lysine residues on the amino-terminal tails of the core histones to transcriptional activity of cellular chromatin. New insights into this field were gained on the identification of the first nuclear, type A histone acetyltransferase (HAT). The yeast transcriptional adaptor protein Gcn5 was identified as a nuclear HAT and thus provided a direct link between pathways of transcriptional activation and histone acetylation. However, while recombinant Gcn5 can efficiently acetylate free histone H3 and, to a lesser extent, H4 it is unable to acetylate nucleosomal histones. It is therefore very likely that additional proteins are required for Gcn5-mediated acetylation of chromosomal histones. We have recently shown that Gcn5 is the catalytic subunit of two high-molecular-weight histone acetyltransferase complexes in yeast. In addition to the Gcn5-containing ADA and SAGA HAT complexes we have identified two other HAT complexes in yeast. These are called NuA3 and NuA4 for their predominant specificity to acetylate histones H3 and H4, respectively. Here we describe the identification and characterization of four native nuclear high-molecular-weight HAT complexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These purified HATs can be used in a variety of functional assays to further address questions of how acetylation has an impact on transcriptional regulation.

Transcriptional activators direct histone acetyltransferase complexes to nucleosomes.

Transcriptional co-activators were originally identified as proteins that act as intermediaries between upstream activators and the basal transcription machinery. The discovery that co-activators such as Tetrahymena and yeast Gcn5, as well as human p300/CBP, pCAF, Src-1, ACTR and TAFII250, can acetylate histones suggests that activators may be involved in targeting acetylation activity to promoters. Several histone deacetylases have been linked to transcriptional co-repressor proteins, suggesting that the action of both acetylases and deacetylases is important in the regulation of many genes. Here we demonstrate the binding of two native yeast histone acetyltransferase (HAT) complexes to the herpesvirus VP16 activation domain and the yeast transcriptional activator Gcn4, and show that it is their interaction with the VP16 activation domain that targets Gal4-VP16-bound nucleosomes for acetylation. We find that Gal4-VP16-driven transcription from chromatin templates is stimulated by both HAT complexes in an acetyl CoA-dependent reaction. Our results demonstrate the targeting of native HAT complexes by a transcription-activation domain to nucleosomes in order to activate transcription.

SWI/SNF stimulates the formation of disparate activator-nucleosome complexes but is partially redundant with cooperative binding.

To investigate the potential mechanisms by which the SWI/SNF complex differentially regulates different genes we have tested whether transcription factors with diverse DNA binding domains were able to exploit nucleosome disruption by SWI/SNF. In addition to GAL4-VP16, the SWI/SNF complex stimulated nucleosome binding by the Zn2+ fingers of Sp1, the basic helix-loop-helix domain of USF, and the rel domain of NF-kappaB. In each case SWI/SNF action resulted in the formation of a stable factor-nucleosome complex that persisted after detachment of SWI/SNF from the nucleosome. Thus, stimulation of factor binding by SWI/SNF appears to be universal. The degree of SWI/SNF stimulation of nucleosome binding by a factor appears to be inversely related to the extent that binding is inhibited by the histone octamer. Cooperative binding of 5 GAL4-VP16 dimers to a 5-site nucleosome enhanced GAL4 binding relative to a single-site nucleosome, but this also reduced the degree of stimulation by SWI/SNF. The SWI/SNF complex increased the affinity of 5 GAL4-VP16 dimers for nucleosomes equal to that of DNA but no further. Similarly, multimerized NF-kappaB sites enhanced nucleosome binding by NF-kappaB and reduced the stimulatory effect of SWI/SNF. Thus, cooperative binding of factors to nucleosomes is partially redundant with the function of the SWI/SNF complex.

H1-mediated repression of transcription factor binding to a stably positioned nucleosome.

Previously, we reported that histone H1 binding to nucleosome cores results in the repression of binding of the basic helix-loop-helix upstream stimulatory factor (USF) (Juan, L.-J., Utley, R. T., Adams, C. C., Vettese-Dadey, M., and Workman, J. L. (1994) EMBO J. 13, 6031-6040). We have tested whether this inhibition resulted from H1-mediated changes in nucleosome positioning (Ura, K., Hayes, J. J., and Wolffe, A. P. (1995) EMBO J. 14, 3752-3765) forcing the USF recognition sequence into less accessible locations within the nucleosome. Nucleosome boundaries were determined by assays combining micrococcal nuclease and restriction endonuclease digestion. A unique pair of boundaries were observed, indicating a single nucleosome translational position. This nucleosome position did not change on H1 or USF binding. Thus, H1 repression of USF binding was independent of nucleosome mobility, indicating an alternative mechanism of H1 repression. H1 repressed USF binding at a site 35 base pairs into the nucleosome core more effectively than at a site near the "linker" DNA, suggesting that inhibition by H1 was not simply due to steric occlusion. Instead, these data are consistent with a model by which H1 binding reduces transient dynamic exposure of the DNA from the histone octamer surface (Polach, K. L., and Widom, J. (1995) J. Mol. Biol. 254, 130-149).

Persistent site-specific remodeling of a nucleosome array by transient action of the SWI/SNF complex.

The SWI/SNF complex participates in the restructuring of chromatin for transcription. The function of the yeast SWI/SNF complex in the remodeling of a nucleosome array has now been analyzed in vitro. Binding of the purified SWI/SNF complex to a nucleosome array disrupted multiple nucleosomes in an adenosine triphosphate-dependent reaction. However, removal of SWI/SNF left a deoxyribonuclease I-hypersensitive site specifically at a nucleosome that was bound by derivatives of the transcription factor Gal4p. Analysis of individual nucleosomes revealed that the SWI/SNF complex catalyzed eviction of histones from the Gal4-bound nucleosomes. Thus, the transient action of the SWI/SNF complex facilitated irreversible disruption of transcription factor-bound nucleosomes.

Differential repression of transcription factor binding by histone H1 is regulated by the core histone amino termini.

In order to investigate the interrelated roles of nucleosome cores and histone H1 in transcription repression, we have employed a purified system to analyze the function of H1 in the repression of transcription factor binding to nucleosomes. H1 binding to nucleosome cores resulted in the repression of USF binding to nucleosomes. By contrast, H1 only slightly inhibited the binding of GAL4-AH, indicating that H1 differentially represses the binding of factors with different DNA-binding domains. H1-mediated repression of factor binding was dependent on the core histone amino-terminal tails. Removal of these domains alleviated H1-mediated repression and increased acetylation of these domains partly alleviated repression by H1. H1 binding assays suggest a less stable interaction of histone H1 with the core particle in the absence of the amino termini.