Cited by 53Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsChromatin Remodeling and CancerEpigenetics and DNA Methylation

The MLL3/4 H3K4 methyltransferase complex in establishing an active enhancer landscape

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Wang, Lan-Hsin, Aberin, Marvin Angelo E., Wu, Sean, Wang, Shu-Ping·2021·Biochemical Society Transactions

Abstract

Enhancers are cis-regulatory elements that play essential roles in tissue-specific gene expression during development. Enhancer function in the expression of developmental genes requires precise regulation, while deregulation of enhancer function could be the main cause of tissue-specific cancer development. MLL3/KMT2C and MLL4/KMT2D are two paralogous histone modifiers that belong to the SET1/MLL (also named COMPASS) family of lysine methyltransferases and play critical roles in enhancer-regulated gene activation. Importantly, large-scale DNA sequencing studies have revealed that they are amongst the most frequently mutated genes associated with human cancers. MLL3 and MLL4 form identical multi-protein complexes for modifying mono-methylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) at enhancers, which together with the p300/CBP-mediated H3K27 acetylation can generate an active enhancer landscape for long-range target gene activation. Recent studies have provided a better understanding of the possible mechanisms underlying the roles of MLL3/MLL4 complexes in enhancer regulation. Moreover, accumulating studies offer new insights into our knowledge of the potential role of MLL3/MLL4 in cancer development. In this review, we summarize recent evidence on the molecular mechanisms of MLL3/MLL4 in the regulation of active enhancer landscape and long-range gene expression, and discuss their clinical implications in human cancers.

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Crossref · 10.1042/bst20191164

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  • MLL4 serves as a main H3K4 mono-methyltransferase for enhancer activation and exhibits cell type and differentiation stage specific binding.

    “MLL4 serves as a main H3K4 mono-methyltransferase for enhancer activation35,36,38 and exhibits cell type and differentiation stage specific binding37,41.”

    From HNF4A guides the MLL4 complex to establish and maintain H3K4me1 at gene regulatory elements (2024) · cites this paper as [38]

    The section on catalytic and noncatalytic function in enhancer activation identifies MLL3/4 as major H3K4me1 methyltransferases and describes their role at enhancers, supporting the first part of the claim, though it discusses MLL3 and MLL4 together. The section on MLL3/4 complexes describes recruitment to particular enhancers, but the retrieved passages do not establish that MLL4 binding varies specifically by cell type and differentiation stage. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • MLL4 exists in a multi-protein complex containing core components WDR5, ASH2L, RBBP5 and DPY30 and other complex-specific proteins such as PAGR1, KDM6A, NCOA6 and PAXIP1.

    “MLL4 exists in a multi-protein complex containing the core components WDR5, ASH2L, RBBP5 and DPY3038,39 and other complex-specific proteins, such as PAGR1 (previously known as PA1), KDM6A (UTX), NCOA6 and PAXIP1 (PTIP)37,40.”
  • MLL4 is known to exist at enhancers in a complex with UTX (KDM6A), ASH2L, and RBBP5.

    “MLL4 is known to exist at enhancers in a complex with UTX (KDM6A), ASH2L, and RBBP538.”
  • MLL3 and MLL4 catalyze H3K4 monomethylation and are recruited to target enhancers by TFs and pioneer factors.

    “MLL3 and MLL4 catalyze H3K4 monomethylation and are recruited to target enhancers by TFs and pioneer factors37,38,59.”

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Authors
Wang, L.-H., Aberin, M. A. E., Wu, S., & Wang, S.-P.
Affiliations
  • National Defense Medical Center (TW)
  • National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (TW)
  • Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica (TW)
Corresponding author
Wang, Shu-Ping
Venue
Biochemical Society Transactions
Published
2021-06-22
Volume
49
Issue
3
Pages
1041-1054
ISSN
  • 0300-5127 (ISSN-L)
  • 1470-8752
OpenAlex
W3176495543
Cited by
53
References
127
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 1
FWCI
0.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Biochemical Society Transactions (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Chromatin Remodeling and Cancer
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
Keywords
MLL3, KMT2D, KMT2C, H3K4 methyltransferase, COMPASS complex, enhancer regulation, H3K27 acetylation, CBP/p300, tissue-specific gene expression, cancer, histone modifications
MeSH terms
Animals, DNA-Binding Proteins, Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Gene Expression Regulation, Histones, Humans, Methyltransferases, Neoplasms, Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase, Multiprotein Complexes

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