Active Genes Are Tri-Methylated at K4 of Histone H3
Abstract
Lysine methylation of histones in vivo occurs in three states: mono-, di- and tri-methyl. Histone H3 has been found to be di-methylated at lysine 4 (K4) in active euchromatic regions but not in silent heterochromatic sites. Here we show that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Set1 protein can catalyse di- and tri-methylation of K4 and stimulate the activity of many genes. Using antibodies that discriminate between the di- and tri-methylated state of K4 we show that di-methylation occurs at both inactive and active euchromatic genes, whereas tri-methylation is present exclusively at active genes. It is therefore the presence of a tri-methylated K4 that defines an active state of gene expression. These findings establish the concept of methyl status as a determinant for gene activity and thus extend considerably the complexity of histone modifications.
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Deposition of H3K4me3 at the 5' regions of actively transcribed genes is facilitated by trithorax group (trxG) protein complexes in coordination with the initiating form of RNA polymerase.
“The deposition of H3K4me3 at the 5 ′ regions of actively transcribed genes is facilitated by trithorax group (trxG) protein complexes in coordination with the initiating form of RNA polymerase [56,57].”
From Somaclonal Variation and Clonal Fidelity in Commercial Micropropagation: Challenges and Perspectives (2025) · cites this paper as [57]
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- Authors
- Santos-Rosa, H., Schneider, R., Bannister, A. J., Sherriff, J., Bernstein, B. E., Emre, N. C. T., Schreiber, S. L., Mellor, J., & Kouzarides, T.
- Affiliations
- Cancer Research UK (GB)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Harvard University (US)
- The Wistar Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kouzarides, Tony
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2002-09
- Volume
- 419
- Issue
- 6905
- Pages
- 407-411
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2022936129
- Cited by
- 2,138
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 41 · 2025: 58 · 2024: 71 · 2023: 76 · 2022: 83 · 2021: 95 · 2020: 82 · 2019: 80 · 2018: 62 · 2017: 80 · 2016: 92 · 2015: 83 · 2014: 94 · 2013: 97 · 2012: 100
- FWCI
- 34.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Site cant be reached (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Cancer-related gene regulation
- Keywords
- H3K4, trimethylation, histone methylation, euchromatin, heterochromatin, gene expression, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, histone modifications, chromatin
- MeSH terms
- Antibodies, DNA-Binding Proteins, Genes, Fungal, Histones, Inositol, Lysine, Methionine, Methylation, Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Transcription Factors, Transcription, Genetic, Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal, Gene Expression Profiling, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
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