title: HDAC4 deacetylase associates with and represses the MEF2 transcription factor.
abstract: The acetylation state of histones can influence transcription. Acetylation, carried out by acetyltransferases such as CBP/p300 and P/CAF, is commonly associated with transcriptional stimulation, whereas deacetylation, mediated by the three known human deacetylases HDAC1, 2 and 3, causes transcriptional repression. The known human deacetylases represent a single family and are homologues of the yeast RPD3 deacetylase. Here we identify and characterize HDAC4, a representative of a new human histone deacetylase family, which is homologous to the yeast HDA1 deacetylase. We show that HDAC4, unlike other deacetylases, shuttles between the nucleus and the cytoplasm in a process involving active nuclear export. In the nucleus, HDAC4 associates with the myocyte enhancer factor MEF2A. Binding of HDAC4 to MEF2A results in the repression of MEF2A transcriptional activation, a function that requires the deacetylase domain of HDAC4. These results identify MEF2A as a nuclear target for HDAC4-mediated repression and suggests that compartmentalization may be a novel mechanism for controlling the nuclear activity of this new family of deacetylases.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome/CRC Institute, Department of Pathology, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Miska
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Langley
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pines
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kouzarides
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006655:Histone Deacetylases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006657:Histones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; D064326:MEF2 Transcription Factors; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018006:Myogenic Regulatory Factors; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D006657:Histones; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; D064326:MEF2 Transcription Factors; C578035:MEF2A protein, human; D018006:Myogenic Regulatory Factors; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D006655:Histone Deacetylases