Project description:Reproductive success begins with a healthy egg (a competent oocyte). An oocyte acquires its developmental competence during oogenesis in preparation for accomplishing the critical developmental transition from completion of meiosis to initiation of early embryogenesis. Here we comprehensively characterised the maternal role of major subunits of Hira (i.e. Hira, Cabin1 and Zscan4) during oocyte-to-embryo transition.
Project description:The assembly of nucleosomes by histone chaperones is an important component of transcriptional regulation. Here we have assessed the global roles of the S. pombe HIRA histone chaperone complex. Microarray analysis indicates that inactivation of the HIRA complex results in increased expression of at least 4% of fission yeast genes. HIRA-regulated genes overlap with those which are normally repressed in vegetatively growing cells, such as targets of the Clr6 histone deacetylase and silenced genes located in subtelomeric regions. HIRA is also required for silencing of all 13 intact copies of the Tf2 long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon. However, the role of HIRA is not restricted to bona fide promoters, because it also suppresses non-coding transcripts from solo LTR elements and spurious antisense transcripts from cryptic promoters associated with transcribed regions. Furthermore, the HIRA complex is essential in the absence of the quality control provided by nuclear exosome-mediated degradation of illegitimate transcripts. This suggests that HIRA restricts genomic accessibility, and, consistent with this, the chromosomes of cells lacking HIRA are more susceptible to genotoxic agents that cause double strand breaks. Thus the HIRA histone chaperone is required to maintain the protective functions of chromatin.
Project description:Histone variants contribute to the complexity of the chromatin landscape and play an integral role in defining DNA domains and regulating gene expression. The histone H3 variant H3.3 is incorporated into genic elements independent of DNA replication by its chaperone HIRA. Here we demonstrate that Hira is required for the self-renewal of adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and to restrain erythroid differentiation. Deletion of Hira led to rapid depletion of HSCs while differentiated hematopoietic cells remained largely unaffected. Depletion of HSCs after Hira deletion was accompanied by increased expression of bivalent and erythroid genes, which were exacerbated upon cell division and paralleled increased erythroid differentiation. Assessing H3.3 occupancy identified a subset of polycomb-repressed chromatin in HSCs that depend on HIRA to maintain the inaccessible, H3.3-occupied state for gene repression. HIRA-dependent H3.3 incorporation thus defines distinct repressive chromatin that represses erythroid differentiation of HSCs.
Project description:Histone variants contribute to the complexity of the chromatin landscape and play an integral role in defining DNA domains and regulating gene expression. The histone H3 variant H3.3 is incorporated into genic elements independent of DNA replication by its chaperone HIRA. Here we demonstrate that Hira is required for the self-renewal of adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and to restrain erythroid differentiation. Deletion of Hira led to rapid depletion of HSCs while differentiated hematopoietic cells remained largely unaffected. Depletion of HSCs after Hira deletion was accompanied by increased expression of bivalent and erythroid genes, which were exacerbated upon cell division and paralleled increased erythroid differentiation. Assessing H3.3 occupancy identified a subset of polycomb-repressed chromatin in HSCs that depend on HIRA to maintain the inaccessible, H3.3-occupied state for gene repression. HIRA-dependent H3.3 incorporation thus defines distinct repressive chromatin that represses erythroid differentiation of HSCs.
Project description:Histone variants contribute to the complexity of the chromatin landscape and play an integral role in defining DNA domains and regulating gene expression. The histone H3 variant H3.3 is incorporated into genic elements independent of DNA replication by its chaperone HIRA. Here we demonstrate that Hira is required for the self-renewal of adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and to restrain erythroid differentiation. Deletion of Hira led to rapid depletion of HSCs while differentiated hematopoietic cells remained largely unaffected. Depletion of HSCs after Hira deletion was accompanied by increased expression of bivalent and erythroid genes, which were exacerbated upon cell division and paralleled increased erythroid differentiation. Assessing H3.3 occupancy identified a subset of polycomb-repressed chromatin in HSCs that depend on HIRA to maintain the inaccessible, H3.3-occupied state for gene repression. HIRA-dependent H3.3 incorporation thus defines distinct repressive chromatin that represses erythroid differentiation of HSCs.
Project description:Histone chaperones and chromatin remodelers control nucleosome dynamics, essential for transcription, replication, and DNA repair. The histone chaperone Anti-Silencing Factor 1 (ASF1) plays a central role in facilitating CAF-1-mediated replication-dependent H3.1 deposition and HIRA-mediated replication-independent H3.3 deposition in yeast and metazoans. Whether ASF1 function is evolutionarily conserved in plants is unknown. Here, we show that Arabidopsis ASF1 proteins display an exclusive preference for the H3.3-depositing HIRA complex. Simultaneous mutation of both Arabidopsis ASF1 genes caused a decrease in chromatin density and ectopic H3.1 occupancy at loci typically enriched with H3.3. Genetic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data indicate that ASF1 proteins strongly prefer the HIRA complex over CAF-1. asf1 mutants also displayed an increase in spurious Pol II transcriptional initiation, and showed defects in the maintenance of gene body CG DNA methylation and in the distribution of histone modifications. Furthermore, ectopic targeting of ASF1 caused excessive histone deposition, less accessible chromatin, and gene silencing. These findings reveal the importance of ASF1-mediated H3.3-H4 deposition via the HIRA pathway for proper epigenetic regulation of the genome.
Project description:Quiescence (G0) is a reversible non-dividing state that facilitates cellular survival in adverse conditions. Here we demonstrate that the function of the HIRA histone chaperone complex is required for viability during nitrogen-starvation induced quiescence in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. G0 cells lacking the HIRA protein, Hip1 exhibit elevated levels of antisense ncRNAs and an increase in unrepaired DNA double strand breaks. Nitrogen-starved hip1∆ cells retain metabolic activity but, in contrast to wild type, rapidly lose the ability to resume proliferation. After a short period in G0 (1 day), hip1∆ mutants are able to resume cell growth in response to the restoration of a nitrogen source, but do not efficiently induce Start-specific gene expression and re-enter the cell cycle. However, hip1∆ cells rapidly progress to an unresponsive state and by 4 days in G0, the majority no longer initiate growth following nitrogen source restoration. Analysis using a conditional hip1 allele is consistent with these findings and indicates that HIRA is required for efficient exit from quiescence and prevents a permanent cell cycle arrest.
Project description:Histone chaperones prevent promiscuous histone interactions before chromatin assembly. They guarantee faithful deposition of canonical histones and functionally specialized histone variants into chromatin in a spatial- and temporally-restricted manner. Here, we identify the binding partners of the primate-specific and H3.3-related histone variant H3.Y using several quantitative mass spectrometry approaches, and biochemical and cell biological assays. We find the HIRA, but not the DAXX/ATRX, complex to specifically recognize H3.Y, explaining its presence in transcriptionally active euchromatic regions. Accordingly, H3.Y nucleosomes are enriched in the transcription-promoting FACT complex and depleted of repressive posttranslational histone modifications. H3.Y mutational gain-of-function analyses screens reveal an unexpected combinatorial amino acid sequence requirement for histone H3.3 interaction with DAXX but not HIRA, and for H3.3 recruitment to PML nuclear bodies. We demonstrate the importance and necessity of specific H3.3 core region and C-terminal amino acids in discriminating between distinct chaperone complexes. Further, ChIP-seq experiments reveal that in contrast to euchromatic HIRA-dependent deposition sites, human DAXX/ATRX-dependent regions of histone H3 variant incorporation are enriched in heterochromatic H3K9me3 and simple repeat sequences. These data demonstrate that H3.Y's unique amino acids allow a functional distinction between HIRA and DAXX binding and its consequent deposition into open chromatin.
Project description:Cellular senescence is a stable proliferation arrest that suppresses tumorigenesis. Histone chaperone HIRA deposits nucleosome-destabilizing histone variant H3.3 into chromatin in a DNA replication-independent manner. Histone H3.3 and a subset of other typically M-bM-^@M-^\replication-dependentM-bM-^@M-^] core histones were expressed in non-proliferating senescent cells, the latter linked to alternative mRNA splicing and polyadenylation. Senescent cells incorporated newly-synthesized histones into chromatin, partially dependent on HIRA. HIRA and newly-deposited histone H3.3 co-localized at promoters of expressed genes, and their distribution shifted between proliferating and senescent cells, paralleling changes in gene expression. In senescent cells, gene promoters showed exceptional enrichment of a histone acetylation linked to open and dynamic chromatin, H4K16ac. Abundance of H4K16ac depended on HIRA. In the mouse, inactivation of HIRA downregulated H4K16ac and dramatically enhanced oncogene-induced hyperplasia. To conclude, HIRA controls a previously undefined dynamic non-canonical H4K16ac-decorated chromatin landscape in senescence, and also plays an unanticipated role in suppression of oncogene-induced neoplasia. Examination of HIRA protein binding alongside histone modification H4K16ac and H3.3 in proliferating and senescent IMR90 cells
Project description:The HIRA chaperone complex, comprised of HIRA, UBN1 and CABIN1, collaborates with histone-binding protein ASF1a to incorporate histone variant H3.3 into chromatin in a DNA replication-independent manner. To better understand its function and mechanism, we integrated HIRA, UBN1, ASF1a and histone H3.3 ChIP-seq and gene expression analyses. Most HIRA-binding sites co-localize with UBN1, ASF1a and H3.3 at active promoters and active and weak/poised enhancers. At promoters, binding of HIRA/UBN1/ASF1a correlates with the level of gene expression. HIRA is required for deposition of histone H3.3 at its binding sites. There are marked differences in nucleosome and co-regulator composition at different classes of HIRA-bound regulatory site. Underscoring this, we report novel physical interactions between the HIRA complex and transcription factors, a chromatin insulator and an ATP-dependent chromatin-remodelling complex. Our results map the distribution of the HIRA chaperone across the chromatin landscape and point to different interacting partners at functionally distinct regulatory sites. Examination of 3 histone chaperone proteins in HeLa cells