The role of histone H4 biotinylation in the structure of nucleosomes.

Authors

Nina A. Filenko, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Carol Kolar, University of Nebraska Medical CenterFollow
John T. West, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
S. Abbie Smith, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Yousef I. Hassan, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Gloria E.O. Borgstahl, University of Nebraska Medical CenterFollow
Janos Zempleni, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Yuri L. Lyubchenko, University of Nebraska Medical CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Journal Title

PLoS One

Publication Date

Winter 1-27-2011

Volume

6

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Post-translational modifications of histones play important roles in regulating nucleosome structure and gene transcription. It has been shown that biotinylation of histone H4 at lysine-12 in histone H4 (K12Bio-H4) is associated with repression of a number of genes. We hypothesized that biotinylation modifies the physical structure of nucleosomes, and that biotin-induced conformational changes contribute to gene silencing associated with histone biotinylation.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To test this hypothesis we used atomic force microscopy to directly analyze structures of nucleosomes formed with biotin-modified and non-modified H4. The analysis of the AFM images revealed a 13% increase in the length of DNA wrapped around the histone core in nucleosomes with biotinylated H4. This statistically significant (p

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The increase in nucleosomal DNA length is predicted to stabilize the association of DNA with histones and therefore to prevent nucleosomes from unwrapping. This provides a mechanistic explanation for the gene silencing associated with K12Bio-H4. The proposed single-molecule AFM approach will be instrumental for studying the effects of various epigenetic modifications of nucleosomes, in addition to biotinylation.

MeSH Headings

Animals, Biotinylation, DNA, Gene Silencing, Histones, Microscopy, Atomic Force, Nucleic Acid Conformation, Nucleosomes, Protein Processing, Post-Translational, Xenopus Proteins

DOI Link

10.1371/journal.pone.0016299

ISSN

1932-6203

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Filenko, Nina A.; Kolar, Carol; West, John T.; Smith, S. Abbie; Hassan, Yousef I.; Borgstahl, Gloria E.O.; Zempleni, Janos; and Lyubchenko, Yuri L., "The role of histone H4 biotinylation in the structure of nucleosomes." (2011). Journal Articles: Pharmaceutical Sciences. 13.
https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/cop_pharmsci_articles/13