Yeast SAS silencing genes and human genes associated with AML and HIV-1 Tat interactions are homologous with acetyltransferases.
Silencing is an epigenetic form of transcriptional regulation whereby genes are heritably, but not necessarily permanently, inactivated. We have identified the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes SAS2 and SAS3 through a screen for enhancers of sir1 epigenetic silencing defects. SAS2, SAS3 and a Schizosaccharomyces pombe homologue are closely related to several human genes, including one associated with acute myeloid leukaemia arising from the recurrent translocation t(8;16)(p11;p13) and one implicated in HIV-1 Tat interactions. All of these genes encode proteins with an atypical zinc finger and well-conserved similarities to acetyltransferases. Sequence similarities and yeast mutant phenotypes suggest that SAS-like genes function in transcriptional regulation and cell-cycle exit and reveal novel connections between transcriptional silencing and human disease.
Reifsnyder
C
C
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309, USA.
Lowell
J
J
Clarke
A
A
Pillus
L
L
D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000235:genetics*; D000208:Acute Disease; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D015696:Gene Products, tat / Q000235:genetics; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D016192:Resting Phase, Cell Cycle; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D038281:Silent Information Regulator Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics*; D054322:tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
D004271:DNA, Fungal; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D015696:Gene Products, tat; C084121:SIR1 protein, S cerevisiae; D038281:Silent Information Regulator Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D015534:Trans-Activators; D054322:tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; D000123:Acetyltransferases