Epigenetic research uncovers new targets for modification enzymes

A consortium of scientists, led by Albert Jeltsch at Jacobs University, Breman, Germany, Yoichi Shinkai at Kyoto University, Japan, and Xiaodong Cheng at Emory University, has now discovered new non-histone targets for one enzyme previously believed to modify only histones–the group of proteins that creates tightly bundled packages of DNA strands. The research is reported online in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

These modification enzymes, called protein methyltransferases, add methyl groups to lysine amino acids within the histones and change their influence on gene expression. The newly identified non-histone targets add yet another influence on gene expression in addition to the already-known DNA methylation and histone modifications in the epigenome.

The international research team has found that a histone methyltransferase called G9a adds methyl groups to other proteins in addition to histones and changes the behavior of those proteins. The researchers used a peptide array technology called SPOT to identify the new enzyme targets.

“This discovery broadens our view of methyltransferases and tells us that epigenetic regulation in cells is even more complicated than we thought,” says principal investigator Xiaodong Cheng, PhD, professor of biochemistry at Emory University School of Medicine and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.

“We have known for some time that we had a great deal more to discover about methyltransferases. This is an important piece of the puzzle, and additional research will continue to help us unwind the multiple mechanisms involved in epigenetic gene regulation.”

Media Contact

Holly Korschun EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.emory.edu

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors