Abstract

BackgroundPosttranslational modifications of core histones are correlated with changes in transcriptional status, chromatin fiber folding, and nucleosome dynamics. However, within the centromere-specific histone H3 variant CENP-A, few modifications have been reported, and their functions remain largely unexplored. In this multidisciplinary report, we utilize in silico computational and in vivo approaches to dissect lysine 124 of human CENP-A, which was previously reported to be acetylated in advance of replication.ResultsComputational modeling demonstrates that acetylation of K124 causes tightening of the histone core and hinders accessibility to its C-terminus, which in turn diminishes CENP-C binding. Additionally, CENP-A K124ac/H4 K79ac containing nucleosomes are prone to DNA sliding. In vivo experiments using a CENP-A acetyl or unacetylatable mimic (K124Q and K124A, respectively) reveal alterations in CENP-C levels and a modest increase in mitotic errors. Furthermore, mutation of K124 results in alterations in centromeric replication timing. Purification of native CENP-A proteins followed by mass spectrometry analysis reveals that while CENP-A K124 is acetylated at G1/S, it switches to monomethylation during early S and mid-S phases. Finally, we provide evidence implicating the histone acetyltransferase (HAT) p300 in this cycle.ConclusionsTaken together, our data suggest that cyclical modifications within the CENP-A nucleosome contribute to the binding of key kinetochore proteins, the integrity of mitosis, and centromeric replication. These data support the paradigm that modifications in histone variants can influence key biological processes.

Highlights

  • Posttranslational modifications of core histones are correlated with changes in transcriptional status, chromatin fiber folding, and nucleosome dynamics

  • In recent work, using all-atom molecular dynamics (MD), we showed that the 4-helix bundle in the CENPA nucleosome core particle (CENP-A NCP) is highly dynamic [26], such that CENP-A dimers were found to move antiparallel to each other in a “shearing” motion unique to octameric CENP-A nucleosomes

  • Earlier experimental work from our laboratory indicated that G1 to S transition (G1/S) CENP-A nucleosomes are enriched in CENP-A K124ac and H4K79ac, and correlated with a transitionary state of the chromatin fiber [20]

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Summary

Introduction

Posttranslational modifications of core histones are correlated with changes in transcriptional status, chromatin fiber folding, and nucleosome dynamics. Within the centromere-specific histone H3 variant CENP-A, few modifications have been reported, and their functions remain largely unexplored. In this multidisciplinary report, we utilize in silico computational and in vivo approaches to dissect lysine 124 of human CENP-A, which was previously reported to be acetylated in advance of replication. Posttranslational modifications in histones play an important role in chromosome biology. The majority of such modifications discovered exist on the N-terminal tails of histones H3, H2A, H3.3, and H4 [1,2,3]. Previous work shows that inhibiting HDACs suppresses the loss of CENP-A at centromeres [18], suggesting that the acetylation of CENP-A plays a role in CENP-A retention

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