Nishida Hiromi, Suzuki Takahiro, Ookawa Hiroki, Tomaru Yasuhiro, Hayashizaki Yoshihide
Laboratory for Genome Exploration Research Group, RIKEN Genomic Sciences Center, RIKEN Yokohama Institute, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0045, Japan.
BMC Genomics. 2005 Aug 13;6:108. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-6-108.
At least 18 replication-dependent histone H2a genes are distributed in 3 Hist gene clusters on different chromosomes of the mouse genome. In this analysis we designed specific PCR primers for each histone H2a transcript and studied the expression levels and patterns using quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). In addition, we compared histone H3 K9 acetylation levels in the promoter regions of H2a genes by ChIP (chromatin immunoprecipitation)--quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis.
RT-PCR analysis indicated that all 20 histone H2a genes assessed in this study are expressed. The replication-dependent histone H2a genes have different expression levels but similar expression patterns. Among the 20 histone H2a genes, the expression-level of H2afz, a replication-independent gene, was highest, and that of Hist1h2aa, a replication-dependent gene, was lowest. Among 18 replication-dependent H2a genes, the expression level of Hist3h2a was highest. The ChIP-qPCR analysis showed that histone H3 K9 acetylation levels in promoter regions of both H2afz and Hist3h2a are clearly higher than that in the promoter region of Hist1h2aa. The H3 K9 acetylation level in the promoter of Hist1h2aa is similar to that in the gamma-satellite region.
These results strongly suggest that histone H3 K9 acetylation plays a role in the expression of histone genes.
至少18个复制依赖型组蛋白H2a基因分布于小鼠基因组不同染色体上的3个组蛋白基因簇中。在本分析中,我们针对每个组蛋白H2a转录本设计了特异性PCR引物,并使用定量逆转录PCR(qRT-PCR)研究其表达水平和模式。此外,我们通过染色质免疫沉淀(ChIP)-定量PCR(qPCR)分析比较了H2a基因启动子区域的组蛋白H3 K9乙酰化水平。
RT-PCR分析表明,本研究中评估的所有20个组蛋白H2a基因均表达。复制依赖型组蛋白H2a基因具有不同的表达水平,但表达模式相似。在这20个组蛋白H2a基因中,非复制依赖型基因H2afz的表达水平最高,而复制依赖型基因Hist1h2aa的表达水平最低。在18个复制依赖型H2a基因中,Hist3h2a的表达水平最高。ChIP-qPCR分析表明,H2afz和Hist3h2a启动子区域的组蛋白H3 K9乙酰化水平明显高于Hist1h2aa启动子区域。Hist1h2aa启动子中的H3 K9乙酰化水平与γ卫星区域中的相似。
这些结果强烈表明组蛋白H3 K9乙酰化在组蛋白基因的表达中起作用。