Beta-Catenin primes organizer gene expression by recruiting a histone H3 arginine 8 methyltransferase, Prmt2.

ABSTRACT: An emerging concept in development is that transcriptional poising presets patterns of gene expression in a manner that reflects a cell's developmental potential. However, it is not known how certain loci are specified in the embryo to establish poised chromatin architecture as the developmental program unfolds. We find that, in the context of transcriptional quiescence prior to the midblastula transition in Xenopus, dorsal specification by the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is temporally uncoupled from the onset of dorsal target gene expression, and that beta-catenin establishes poised chromatin architecture at target promoters. beta-catenin recruits the arginine methyltransferase Prmt2 to target promoters, thereby establishing asymmetrically dimethylated H3 arginine 8 (R8). Recruitment of Prmt

SUBMITTER: Blythe SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2923644 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature