Chromatin dynamics during herpes simplex virus-1 lytic infection.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 is a DNA virus that can establish lytic infections in epithelial cells and latent infections in sensory neurons. Upon entry into the nucleus the genome of HSV-1 rapidly associates with histone proteins. Similar to the genomes of the cellular host, HSV-1 is subject to chromatin-based regulation of transcription and replication.

The histone variant H3.3 regulates gene expression during lytic infection with herpes simplex virus type 1.

It has been proposed that incorporation of the histone variant H3.3 within actively transcribed regions of a genome helps to facilitate transcription. In this report we use lytic infection by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) as a model to examine the temporal profile of histone H3 incorporation and to determine whether the variant histone H3.

Repression of p53 activity by Smyd2-mediated methylation.

Specific sites of lysine methylation on histones correlate with either activation or repression of transcription. The tumour suppressor p53 (refs 4-7) is one of only a few non-histone proteins known to be regulated by lysine methylation. Here we report a lysine methyltransferase, Smyd2, that methylates a previously unidentified site, Lys 370, in p53.

The H2A.Z/H2B dimer is unstable compared to the dimer containing the major H2A isoform.

The nucleosome, the basic fundamental repeating unit of chromatin, contains two H2A/H2B dimers and an H3/H4 tetramer. Modulation of the structure and dynamics of the nucleosome is an important regulation mechanism of DNA-based chemistries in the eukaryotic cell, such as transcription and replication. One means of altering the properties of the nucleosome is by incorporation of histone variants.

Three-state kinetic folding mechanism of the H2A/H2B histone heterodimer: the N-terminal tails affect the transition state between a dimeric intermediate and the native dimer.

The H2A/H2B heterodimer is a component of the nucleosome core particle, the fundamental repeating unit of chromatin in all eukaryotic cells. The kinetic folding mechanism for the H2A/H2B dimer has been determined from unfolding and refolding kinetics as a function of urea using stopped-flow, circular dichroism and fluorescence methods. The kinetic data are consistent with a three-state mechanism: two unfolded monomers associate to form a dimeric intermediate in the dead-time of the SF instrument (approximately 5 ms); this intermediate is then converted to the native dimer by a slower, first-order reaction.

The N-terminal tails of the H2A-H2B histones affect dimer structure and stability.

The histone proteins of the core nucleosome are highly basic and form heterodimers in a "handshake motif." The N-terminal tails of the histones extend beyond the canonical histone fold of the hand-shake motif and are the sites of posttranslational modifications, including lysine acetylations and serine phosphorylations, which influence chromatin structure and activity as well as alter the charge state of the tails. However, it is not well understood if these modifications are signals for recruitment of other cellular factors or if the removal of net positive charge from the N-terminal tail plays a role in the overall structure of chromatin.

The effect of salts on the stability of the H2A-H2B histone dimer.

The core nucleosome, which comprises an H3-H4 tetramer and two H2A-H2B dimers, is not a static DNA packaging structure. The nucleosome is a dynamic protein-DNA complex, and the modulation of its structure is an important component of transcriptional regulation. To begin to understand the molecular details of nucleosome dynamics, we have investigated the stability of the isolated H2A-H2B dimer.