title: Nucleosomal histone kinase-1 phosphorylates H2A Thr 119 during mitosis in the early Drosophila embryo.
abstract: Posttranslational histone modifications are important for the regulation of many biological phenomena. Here, we show the purification and characterization of nucleosomal histone kinase-1 (NHK-1). NHK-1 has a high affinity for chromatin and phosphorylates a novel site, Thr 119, at the C terminus of H2A. Notably, NHK-1 specifically phosphorylates nucleosomal H2A, but not free H2A in solution. In Drosophila embryos, phosphorylated H2A Thr 119 is found in chromatin, but not in the soluble core histone pool. Immunostaining of NHK-1 revealed that it goes to chromatin during mitosis and is excluded from chromatin during S phase. Consistent with the shuttling of NHK-1 between chromatin and cytoplasm, H2A Thr 119 is phosphorylated during mitosis but not in S phase. These studies reveal that NHK-1-catalyzed phosphorylation of a conserved serine/threonine residue in H2A is a new component of the histone code that might be related to cell cycle progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aihara
authors.forename: Takeya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yasui
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirose
authors.forename: Naoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dhomae
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takio
authors.forename: Mayumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takeshima
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muramatsu
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010766:Phosphorylation; D006656:Protamine Kinase / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D013912:Threonine / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006657:Histones; D013912:Threonine; D006656:Protamine Kinase