title: The PHD type zinc finger is an integral part of the CBP acetyltransferase domain.
abstract: Histone acetyltransferases (HATs) such as CBP and p300 are regarded as key regulators of RNA polymerase II-mediated transcription, but the critical structural features of their HAT modules remain ill defined. The HAT domains of CBP and p300 are characterized by the presence of a highly conserved putative plant homeodomain (PHD) (C4HC3) type zinc finger, which is part of the functionally uncharacterized cysteine-histidine-rich region 2 (CH2). Here we show that this region conforms to the PHD type zinc finger consensus and that it is essential for in vitro acetylation of core histones and the basal transcription factor TFIIE34 as well as for CBP autoacetylation. PHD finger mutations also reduced the transcriptional activity of the full-length CBP protein when tested on transfected reporter genes. Importantly, similar results were obtained on integrated reporters, which reflect a more natural chromatinized state. Taken together, our results indicate that the PHD finger forms an integral part of the enzymatic core of the HAT domain of CBP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Cell Biology, MGC Center for Biomedical Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. E.Kalkhoven@lumc.nl
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalkhoven
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Teunissen
authors.forename: Ada
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Houweling
authors.forename: C Peter
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Verrijzer
authors.forename: Alt
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zantema
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D050882:CREB-Binding Protein; D002460:Cell Line; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila; D051548:Histone Acetyltransferases; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; D006657:Histones; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D000123:Acetyltransferases; D050882:CREB-Binding Protein; C494363:CREBBP protein, human; D051548:Histone Acetyltransferases