Jumonji histone demethylases catalyze removal of methyl marks from lysine residues in histone proteins within nucleosomes. Here, we show that the catalytic domain of demethylase JMJD2A (cJMJD2A) utilizes a distributive mechanism to remove the histone H3 lysine 9 trimethyl mark. By developing a method to assess demethylation of homogeneous, site-specifically methylated nucleosomes, we determined that the kinetic parameters for demethylation of nucleosomes by cJMJD2A are comparable to those of peptide substrates. These findings imply that other domains of the demethylase or its protein partners may contribute to nucleosome recognition in vivo and, in this way, may further regulate demethylation activity and processivity. The quantitative assays of nucleosome demethylation developed in our work provide a platform for future work with complex chromatin substrates and full-length demethylases.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2013.03.008 | DOI Listing |
DNA methylation patterns are inherited from the parental germline to the embryo. In mature sperm, the sites of unmethylated DNA are tightly coupled to sites of histone retention at gene regulatory elements that are implicated in paternal epigenetic inheritance. The timing and mechanism of site-specific DNA demethylation in the male germline currently remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell Rep
January 2025
Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address:
Chromatin regulatory proteins are expressed broadly and assumed to exert the same intrinsic function across cell types. Here, we report that 14 chromatin regulators undergo evolutionary-conserved neuron-specific splicing events involving microexons. Among them are two components of a histone demethylase complex: LSD1 H3K4 demethylase and the H3K4me0-reader PHF21A.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Chem Soc
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States.
Lysine demethylases (KDMs) catalyze the oxidative removal of the methyl group from histones using earth-abundant iron and the metabolite 2-oxoglutarate (2OG). KDMs have emerged as master regulators of eukaryotic gene expression and are novel drug targets; small-molecule inhibitors of KDMs are in the clinical pipeline for the treatment of human cancer. Yet, mechanistic insights into the functional heterogeneity of human KDMs are limited, necessitating the development of chemical probes for precision targeting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
October 2024
Molecular Biophysics and Structural Biology Graduate Program, University of Pittsburg, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Base excision repair is the main pathway involved in active DNA demethylation. 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine, two oxidized moieties of methylated cytosine, are recognized and removed by thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) to generate an abasic site. Using single molecule fluorescence experiments, we study TDG in the presence and absence of 5-formylcytosine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Biol Chem
November 2024
Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Electronic address:
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