Abstract 4235: Site specific profiling of histone methyltransferases in cancer cells using histone peptide microarray containing a comprehensive set of histone peptides.

Abstract

Abstract Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of histones play a critical role in diverse biological processes including chromatin compaction, gene expression and cell differentiation. Among a myriad of PMTs, histone methylation catalyzed by histone methyltransferases (HMTs) has been increasingly recognized as an important player responsible for a major signaling mechanism in eukaryotic cells. This suite of epigenetic modifiers represents a new and promising class of therapeutic targets. In cancer, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests changes in the activity of HMTs (a class of chromatin-modifying enzymes) contribute to the uncontrolled cell proliferation that is a hallmark of this devastating disease. The sequence specificity of the substrates of HMTs under a cellular condition are largely unknown but known targets have been mostly identified through a conventional candidate-based approach by using purified HMTs. However, such an experiment frequently does not reflect what could be occurring in cellular contexts or in vivo. In this study, we designed and synthesized a comprehensive histone peptide microarray (PepArray) on a microfluidic chip which contains 3,919 peptides. The peptides contain nine residues with the methylation sites and mutant sites situated in the middle of the sequence so that each peptide has a unique possibility for modification such as methylation or acetylation. We obtained nuclear extract from the breast cancer cell line T47D, and applied the protein lysates to the histone methylation PepArray chip. After incubation of the chip with a methyl-specific antibody, significant signals were detected at the sites containing peptides corresponding to H2AK74, H3K122, and H4K59. We found null signal at mutant sites where the target lysine(K) was replaced with alanine(A). These results reveal the specific activity profiles of HMTs at defined histone sites in a cellular system. Planned further investigation will compare the different histone methylation or acetylation profiles in the various cellular systems, especially in different cancer systems. The current experiment demonstrates an effective solution to comprehensive studies of epigenetic modification. This information may be translated into therapeutic targets of histone methylation inhibition by focusing on identifying inhibitors of specific HMTs as targets for a new generation of therapeutics. Citation Format: Bing Zhu, Ailing Hong, Chris Hebel, Xiaochuan Zhou, Xiaolian Gao. Site specific profiling of histone methyltransferases in cancer cells using histone peptide microarray containing a comprehensive set of histone peptides. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4235. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4235