Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
10
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-6-2
pubmed:abstractText
Dynamic histone lysine methylation, regulated by methyltransferases and demethylases, plays fundamental roles in chromatin structure and gene expression in a wide range of eukaryotic organisms. A large number of SET-domain-containing proteins make up the histone lysine methyltransferase (HKMT) family, which catalyses the methylation of different lysine residues with relatively high substrate specificities. Another large family of Jumonji C (JmjC)-domain-containing histone lysine demethylases (JHDMs) reverses histone lysine methylation with both lysine site and methyl-state specificities. Through bioinformatic analysis, at least nine SET-domain-containing genes were found in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and its sibling species. Phylogenetic analysis separated these putative HKMTs into five subfamilies with different putative substrate specificities. Consistent with the phylogenetic subdivision, methyl marks were found on K4, K9 and K36 of histone H3 and K20 of histone H4 by site-specific methyl-lysine antibodies. In addition, most SET-domain genes and histone methyl-lysine marks displayed dynamic changes during the parasite asexual erythrocytic cycle, suggesting that they constitute an important epigenetic mechanism of gene regulation in malaria parasites. Furthermore, the malaria parasite and other apicomplexan genomes also encode JmjC-domain-containing proteins that may serve as histone lysine demethylases. Whereas prokaryotic expression of putative active domains of four P. falciparum SET proteins did not yield detectable HKMT activity towards recombinant P. falciparum histones, two protein domains expressed in vitro in a eukaryotic system showed HKMT activities towards H3 and H4, respectively. With the discovery of these Plasmodium SET- and JmjC-domain genes in the malaria parasite genomes, future efforts will be directed towards elucidation of their substrate specificities and functions in various cellular processes of the parasites.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
0020-7519
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
38
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
1083-97
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Amino Acid Sequence, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Cells, Cultured, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Erythrocytes, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Genes, Protozoan, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Humans, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Lysine, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Methylation, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Molecular Sequence Data, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Phylogeny, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Plasmodium falciparum, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Protozoan Proteins, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Sequence Alignment, pubmed-meshheading:18299133-Substrate Specificity
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
Histone lysine methyltransferases and demethylases in Plasmodium falciparum.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, 501 ASI Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA. luc2@psu.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural