An RNA Endonuclease-Kinase Complex Required for Spreading and Epigenetic Inheritance of Heterochromatin
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Schizosaccharomyces pombe
PROVIDER: GSE140920 | GEO | 2020/06/08
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Polycomb Repressive Complexes 1 and 2 (PRC1 and PRC2) are histone-modifying and -binding complexes that mediate the formation of facultative heterochromatin and are required for silencing of developmental genes and maintenance of cell fate. Multiple pathways of RNA decay work together to establish and maintain heterochromatin in fission yeast, including a recently identified role for a conserved RNA degradation complex called the rixosome or RIX1 complex. Whether RNA degradation also plays a role in the stability of mammalian heterochromatin remains unknown. Here we show that the rixosome contributes to silencing of many Polycomb targets in human cells. The rixosome associates with human PRC complexes and is enriched at promoters of Polycomb target genes. Importantly, depletion of either the rixosome or Polycomb results in accumulation of paused and elongating RNA polymerase at Polycomb-target genes. We identify point mutations in the RING1B subunit of PRC1 that disrupt the interaction between PRC1 and the rixosome and result in diminished silencing, suggesting that direct recruitment of the rixosome to chromatin is required for silencing. Finally, we show that the RNA kinase activity of the rixosome and the XRN2 exoribonuclease, which degrades RNAs with 5’ mono-phosphate groups generated by the rixosome, are required for silencing. Our findings suggest that rixosome-mediated degradation of nascent RNA is conserved from fission yeast to human, although in human cells the rixosome degrades RNA in facultative rather than constitutive heterochromatin.
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Project description:Polycomb Repressive Complexes 1 and 2 (PRC1 and PRC2) are histone-modifying and -binding complexes that mediate the formation of facultative heterochromatin and are required for silencing of developmental genes and maintenance of cell fate. Multiple pathways of RNA decay work together to establish and maintain heterochromatin in fission yeast, including a recently identified role for a conserved RNA degradation complex called the rixosome or RIX1 complex. Whether RNA degradation also plays a role in the stability of mammalian heterochromatin remains unknown. Here we show that the rixosome contributes to silencing of many Polycomb targets in human cells. The rixosome associates with human PRC complexes and is enriched at promoters of Polycomb target genes. Importantly, depletion of either the rixosome or Polycomb results in accumulation of paused and elongating RNA polymerase at Polycomb-target genes. We identify point mutations in the RING1B subunit of PRC1 that disrupt the interaction between PRC1 and the rixosome and result in diminished silencing, suggesting that direct recruitment of the rixosome to chromatin is required for silencing. Finally, we show that the RNA kinase activity of the rixosome and the XRN2 exoribonuclease, which degrades RNAs with 5’ mono-phosphate groups generated by the rixosome, are required for silencing. Our findings suggest that rixosome-mediated degradation of nascent RNA is conserved from fission yeast to human, although in human cells the rixosome degrades RNA in facultative rather than constitutive heterochromatin.
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Project description:Epigenetic inheritance of heterochromatin requires DNA sequence-independent propagation mechanisms, coupling to RNAi, or input from DNA sequence, but how DNA contributes to inheritance is not understood. Here, we identify a DNA element (termed “maintainer”) that is sufficient for epigenetic inheritance of preexisting histone H3 lysine 9 methylation (H3K9me) and heterochromatin in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, but cannot establish de novo gene silencing in wild-type cells. This maintainer is a composite DNA element with binding sites for the Atf1/Pcr1 and Deb1 transcription factors and the Origin Recognition Complex (ORC), located within a 130-base pair region, and can be converted to a silencer in cells with lower rates of H3K9me turnover, suggesting that it participates in recruiting the H3K9 methyltransferase Clr4/Suv39h. These results suggest that, in the absence of RNAi, histone H3K9me is only heritable when it can collaborate with maintainer-associated DNA-binding proteins that help recruit the enzyme responsible for its epigenetic deposition.
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Project description:Polycomb Repressive Complexes 1 and 2 (PRC1 and PRC2) are histone-modifying and -binding complexes that mediate the formation of facultative heterochromatin and are required for silencing of developmental genes and maintenance of cell fate1-3. Multiple pathways of RNA decay work together to establish and maintain heterochromatin in fission yeast, including a recently identified role for a conserved RNA degradation complex called the rixosome or RIX1 complex4,5. Whether RNA degradation also plays a role in the stability of mammalian heterochromatin remains unknown. Here we show that the rixosome contributes to silencing of many Polycomb targets in human cells. The rixosome associates with human PRC complexes and is enriched at promoters of Polycomb target genes. Importantly, depletion of either the rixosome or Polycomb results in accumulation of paused and elongating RNA polymerase at Polycomb-target genes. We identify point mutations in the RING1B subunit of PRC1 that disrupt the interaction between PRC1 and the rixosome and result in diminished silencing, suggesting that direct recruitment of the rixosome to chromatin is required for silencing. Finally, we show that the RNA endonuclease and kinase activities of the rixosome and the downstream XRN2 exoribonuclease, which degrades RNAs with 5’ mono-phosphate groups generated by the rixosome, are required for silencing. Our findings suggest that rixosome-mediated degradation of nascent RNA is conserved from fission yeast to human, although in human cells the rixosomal RNAe degradation activity is primarily associated withes RNA in facultative rather than constitutive heterochromatin.
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Project description:Polycomb Repressive Complexes 1 and 2 (PRC1 and PRC2) are histone-modifying and -binding complexes that mediate the formation of facultative heterochromatin and are required for silencing of developmental genes and maintenance of cell fate1-3. Multiple pathways of RNA decay work together to establish and maintain heterochromatin in fission yeast, including a recently identified role for a conserved RNA degradation complex called the rixosome or RIX1 complex4,5. Whether RNA degradation also plays a role in the stability of mammalian heterochromatin remains unknown. Here we show that the rixosome contributes to silencing of many Polycomb targets in human cells. The rixosome associates with human PRC complexes and is enriched at promoters of Polycomb target genes. Importantly, depletion of either the rixosome or Polycomb results in accumulation of paused and elongating RNA polymerase at Polycomb-target genes. We identify point mutations in the RING1B subunit of PRC1 that disrupt the interaction between PRC1 and the rixosome and result in diminished silencing, suggesting that direct recruitment of the rixosome to chromatin is required for silencing. Finally, we show that the RNA endonuclease and kinase activities of the rixosome and the downstream XRN2 exoribonuclease, which degrades RNAs with 5’ mono-phosphate groups generated by the rixosome, are required for silencing. Our findings suggest that rixosome-mediated degradation of nascent RNA is conserved from fission yeast to human, although in human cells the rixosomal RNAe degradation activity is primarily associated withes RNA in facultative rather than constitutive heterochromatin.
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Project description:Polycomb Repressive Complexes 1 and 2 (PRC1 and PRC2) are histone-modifying and -binding complexes that mediate the formation of facultative heterochromatin and are required for silencing of developmental genes and maintenance of cell fate1-3. Multiple pathways of RNA decay work together to establish and maintain heterochromatin in fission yeast, including a recently identified role for a conserved RNA degradation complex called the rixosome or RIX1 complex4,5. Whether RNA degradation also plays a role in the stability of mammalian heterochromatin remains unknown. Here we show that the rixosome contributes to silencing of many Polycomb targets in human cells. The rixosome associates with human PRC complexes and is enriched at promoters of Polycomb target genes. Importantly, depletion of either the rixosome or Polycomb results in accumulation of paused and elongating RNA polymerase at Polycomb-target genes. We identify point mutations in the RING1B subunit of PRC1 that disrupt the interaction between PRC1 and the rixosome and result in diminished silencing, suggesting that direct recruitment of the rixosome to chromatin is required for silencing. Finally, we show that the RNA endonuclease and kinase activities of the rixosome and the downstream XRN2 exoribonuclease, which degrades RNAs with 5’ mono-phosphate groups generated by the rixosome, are required for silencing. Our findings suggest that rixosome-mediated degradation of nascent RNA is conserved from fission yeast to human, although in human cells the rixosomal RNAe degradation activity is primarily associated withes RNA in facultative rather than constitutive heterochromatin.
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Project description:Co-transcriptional RNA processing and surveillance factors mediate heterochromatin formation in fission yeast. In addition to RNAi, RNA elimination machinery including MTREC (Mtl1-Red1 core) and the exosome are involved in facultative heterochromatin assembly, however, the exact mechanisms remain unclear. Here we show that RNA elimination factors cooperate with the conserved exoribonuclease Dhp1/Rat1/Xrn2, which couples pre-mRNA 3â-end processing to transcription termination, to promote premature termination and facultative heterochromatin formation at meiotic genes. Dhp1 also affects termination of transcripts at genes that are targets of RNAi-mediated heterochromatin assembly. Moreover, Dhp1 facilitates constitutive heterochromatin formation and silencing at centromeric and mating-type loci. Remarkably, we find that Dhp1 interacts with the Clr4/Suv39h methyltransferase complex and acts directly to nucleate heterochromatin. Our results uncover a novel role for 3â-end processing and termination machinery in gene silencing through premature termination and suggest that non-canonical termination by Dhp1 and RNA elimination factors is linked to heterochromatin assembly. These findings have important implications for understanding mechanisms of gene silencing in higher eukaryotes. Sequencing and analysis of small RNA in two S. pombe mutants
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2016-01-28 | GSE77289 | GEO
Project description:Functional genomic states are maintained by reinforcing chromatin interactions that exclude the components of other states. Plant heterochromatin features methylation of histone H3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me) and extensive DNA methylation. However, DNA methylation is also catalyzed by a mostly euchromatic small RNA-directed pathway (RdDM) thought to seek H3K9me. How RdDM is excluded from H3K9me-rich heterochromatin is unclear. Here we show that without histone H1, RdDM enters heterochromatin, preferentially at nucleosome linker DNA. Surprisingly, this does not require SHH1, the RdDM component that binds H3K9me. Furthermore, H3K9me is dispensable for RdDM, as is CG DNA methylation. Instead, we find that non-CG methylation is specifically required for small RNA biogenesis, and without H1 small RNA production quantitatively expands to non-CG methylated loci. Our results demonstrate that H1 enforces the separation of euchromatic and heterochromatic DNA methylation pathways by excluding the small RNA-generating branch of RdDM from non-CG methylated heterochromatin.
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