Musco Giovanna, Peterson Pärt
Biomolecular NMR Laboratory, Dulbecco Telethon Institute c/o S. Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Epigenetics. 2008 Nov;3(6):310-4. doi: 10.4161/epi.3.6.7182. Epub 2008 Nov 14.
Methylation of lysine residues on histone H3 tails regulates transcription. A recent addition to the list of known methylated histone binding modules is the plant homeodomain (PHD) finger, which is usually found in nuclear proteins with chromatin-related functions. Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) protein contains two PHD fingers and mutations in AIRE gene cause the monogenic disease autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED). AIRE is expressed in thymic medullary epithelial cells where it promotes the expression of tissue-specific antigens. However the mechanism by which AIRE controls gene expression is currently unknown and the function of its domains, in particular of its PHD fingers is still elusive and controversial. In this review we discuss recent works on AIRE PHD finger(s) providing a new link between the status of histone modifications and the regulation of tissue-specific antigen expression in thymus.
组蛋白H3尾部赖氨酸残基的甲基化调控转录。植物同源结构域（PHD）指是已知的甲基化组蛋白结合模块列表中的最新成员，通常存在于具有染色质相关功能的核蛋白中。自身免疫调节因子（AIRE）蛋白含有两个PHD指，AIRE基因的突变会导致单基因疾病自身免疫性多内分泌腺病-念珠菌病-外胚层营养不良（APECED）。AIRE在胸腺髓质上皮细胞中表达，在那里它促进组织特异性抗原的表达。然而，目前尚不清楚AIRE控制基因表达的机制，其结构域的功能，特别是其PHD指的功能仍然难以捉摸且存在争议。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了关于AIRE PHD指的最新研究，这些研究在组蛋白修饰状态与胸腺中组织特异性抗原表达的调控之间建立了新的联系。
