MOF Acetyl Transferase Regulates Transcription and Respiration in Mitochondria.

A functional crosstalk between epigenetic regulators and metabolic control could provide a mechanism to adapt cellular responses to environmental cues. We report that the well-known nuclear MYST family acetyl transferase MOF and a subset of its non-specific lethal complex partners reside in mitochondria. MOF regulates oxidative phosphorylation by controlling expression of respiratory genes from both nuclear and mtDNA in aerobically respiring cells. MOF binds mtDNA, and this binding is dependent on KANSL3. The mitochondrial pool of MOF, but not a catalytically deficient mutant, rescues respiratory and mtDNA transcriptional defects triggered by the absence of MOF. Mof conditional knockout has catastrophic consequences for tissues with high-energy consumption, triggering hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and cardiac failure in murine hearts; cardiomyocytes show severe mitochondrial degeneration and deregulation of mitochondrial nutrient metabolism and oxidative phosphorylation pathways. Thus, MOF is a dual-transcriptional regulator of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes connecting epigenetics and metabolism.

MYST1/KAT8 contributes to tumor progression by activating EGFR signaling in glioblastoma cells.

With short survival time, glioblastoma (GBM) is the most malignant tumor in the central nervous system. Recently, epigenetic enzymes play essential roles in the regulation of tumorigenesis and cancer development of GBM. However, little is known about MYST1/KAT8/MOF, a histone acetylation enzyme, in GBM. The present study shows that MYST1 promotes GBM progression through activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling. MYST1 expression was increased in GBM and was negatively correlated with prognosis in patients with glioma and GBM. Knockdown of MYST1 reduced cell proliferation and BrdU incorporation in LN229, U87, and A172 GBM cells. Besides, MYST1 downregulation also induced cell cycle arrest at G2M phase, as well as the reduced expression of CDK1, Cyclin A, Cyclin B1, and increased expression of p21CIP1/Waf1 . Meanwhile, Self-renewal capability in vitro and tumorigenecity in vivo were also impaired after MYST1 knockdown. Importantly, MYST1 expression was lowly expressed in mesenchymal subtype of GBM and was positively correlated with EGFR expression in a cohort from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Western blot subsequently confirmed that phosphorylation and activation of p-Try1068 of EGFR, p-Ser473 of AKT and p-Thr202/Tyr204 of Erk1/2 were also decreased by MYST1 knockdown. Consistent with the results above, overexpression of MYST1 promoted GBM growth and activated EGFR signaling in vitro and in vivo. In addition, erlotinib, a US Food and Drug Administration approved cancer drug which targets EGFR, was able to rescue MYST1-promoted cell proliferation and EGFR signaling pathway. Furthermore, the transcription of EGF, an EFGR ligand, was shown to be positively regulated by MYST1 possibly via H4K16 acetylation. Our findings elucidate MYST1 as a tumor promoter in GBM and an EGFR activator, and may be a potential drug target for GBM treatment.

Glioma-induced SIRT1-dependent activation of hMOF histone H4 lysine 16 acetyltransferase in microglia promotes a tumor supporting phenotype.

High-grade gliomas are malignant aggressive primary brain tumors with limited therapeutic options, and dismal prognosis for patients. Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, are recruited and reprogrammed into tumor-supporting cells by glioma cells, which in turn positively influence tumor expansion and infiltration into surrounding brain tissues. Here, we report that glioma-induced microglia conversion is coupled to an increase of histone H4 lysine 16 (H4K16) acetylation level in microglia, through increased nuclear localization of the deacetylase SIRT1, which in turn results in deacetylation of the H4K16 acetyltransferase hMOF and its recruitment to the chromatin at promoter regions of microglial target genes. Furthermore, we demonstrate that manipulation of the microglial H4K16 acetylation level, taking advantage of the intrinsic H4K16 deacetylase or acetyltransferase activities of SIRT1 and hMOF, respectively, modulated the tumor-supporting function of microglia. This study provides evidence that post-translational modifications of histones and the histone-modifying enzymes controlling them, such as H4K16 acetylation regulated by hMOF and SIRT1, are part of the microglial pro-tumoral activation pathway initiated by glioma cancer cells and represent potentially novel therapeutic targets.

Cracking the survival code: autophagy-related histone modifications.

Modifications of histones, the chief protein components of the chromatin, have emerged as critical regulators of life and death. While the "apoptotic histone code" came to light a few years ago, accumulating evidence indicates that autophagy, a cell survival pathway, is also heavily regulated by histone-modifying proteins. In this review we describe the emerging "autophagic histone code" and the role of histone modifications in the cellular life vs. death decision.

Histone post-translational modifications regulate autophagy flux and outcome.

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process in eukaryotes by which cytoplasmic components including macromolecules and organelles are degraded by the lysosome/vacuole. Autophagy is implicated in a number of physiological processes important for human health and disease. Although primarily cytoprotective, autophagy can also contribute to cell death; it is thus important to understand what distinguishes the life or death decision in autophagic cells. Despite the fact that the execution of autophagy includes a unique set of cytoplasmic events, nuclear events, in particular transcriptional programs, have emerged as an important regulator of this process. In addition, a critical linkage was recently unveiled between specific histone posttranslational modifications and the transcriptional regulation of autophagy-related genes, which initiates a regulatory feedback loop, and serves as a key determinant of survival versus death responses upon autophagy induction.