Pinskaya Marina, Morillon Antonin
Commissariat d'Etudes Atomiques, Fontenay aux Roses, France.
Epigenetics. 2009 Jul 1;4(5):302-6. doi: 10.4161/epi.4.5.9369. Epub 2009 Jul 25.
Although histone H3 Lysine 4 methylation (H3K4me) is strongly associated with active transcription, an increasing number of arguments indicate its repressive role in gene expression. Recent data in the mammalian and budding yeast systems have provided evidence for H3K4me2 and H3K4me3 tethering histone deacetylase complexes (HDACs) to modulate gene expression. In S. cerevisiae, this regulation is mediated by specific subunits within HDACs that recognize the methylation status of H3K4 allowing chromatin reorganization to attenuate or repress transcription. Albeit we are still a long way from understanding the mechanism and biological consequences, it is becoming clear that H3K4me at certain chromatin loci may prevent aberrant gene expression or modulate transcriptional response. This review will provide a brief overview of a novel interpretation of H3K4me and its outcome on transcription regulation and will suggest future challenges for the field of epigenetics.
尽管组蛋白H3赖氨酸4甲基化（H3K4me）与活跃转录密切相关，但越来越多的证据表明其在基因表达中具有抑制作用。哺乳动物和芽殖酵母系统中的最新数据为H3K4me2和H3K4me3将组蛋白去乙酰化酶复合物（HDACs）拴系以调节基因表达提供了证据。在酿酒酵母中，这种调节由HDACs内的特定亚基介导，这些亚基识别H3K4的甲基化状态，从而允许染色质重组以减弱或抑制转录。尽管我们距离理解其机制和生物学后果仍有很长的路要走，但越来越清楚的是，某些染色质位点的H3K4me可能会阻止异常基因表达或调节转录反应。本综述将简要概述对H3K4me的一种新解释及其对转录调控的影响，并提出表观遗传学领域未来面临的挑战。
