Influence of Polycomb Proteins and Epigenetic Transcriptional Modifiers on the Development and Activation of T Lymphocytes

Abstract

Transcriptional regulation of a gene is not always correlated with genetic information in- herited from parents because the transcription of specific genes is often governed by the modification of chromatin structure. The study of transcriptional regulation by modifying chromatin structure is well-known as epigenetics. Several methods involved in the modi- fication of chromatin structure have been developed in the mammalian species during evolution. Among those methods, methylations of specific DNA region or histone are of - ten used to control specific gene transcription. Therefore, understanding the activity of proteins involved in DNA or histone methylation is an initial step to control the transcrip- tional activity of a specific gene. Polycomb group (PcG) proteins were known to be repres - sors of transcription of a specific gene by creating and maintaining methylation or ubiqui - tination of the specific region of histone. Dependent on the target histone, the activity of PcG proteins effects on the development of specific lineage cells or the activity of specific cell types. In this review, the function, expression and activity of PcG proteins related with the development or activation of T cells are discussed.