title: Developmental regulation of N-terminal H2B methylation in Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: Histone post-translational modifications play an important role in regulating chromatin structure and gene expression in vivo. Extensive studies investigated the post-translational modifications of the core histones H3 and H4 or the linker histone H1. Much less is known on the regulation of H2A and H2B modifications. Here, we show that a major modification of H2B in Drosophila melanogaster is the methylation of the N-terminal proline, which increases during fly development. Experiments performed in cultured cells revealed higher levels of H2B methylation when cells are dense, regardless of their cell cycle distribution. We identified dNTMT (CG1675) as the enzyme responsible for H2B methylation. We also found that the level of N-terminal methylation is regulated by dART8, an arginine methyltransferase that physically interacts with dNTMT and asymmetrically methylates H3R2. Our results demonstrate the existence of a complex containing two methyltransferases enzymes, which negatively influence each other's activity.
authors: Munich Center of Integrated Protein Science and Adolf-Butenandt Institute, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, 80336 Munich, Germany.
authors: Ana
authors: A
authors: Villar-Garea
authors: Ignasi
authors: I
authors: Forne
authors: Irene
authors: I
authors: Vetter
authors: Elisabeth
authors: E
authors: Kremmer
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Thomae
authors: Axel
authors: A
authors: Imhof
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology / Q000201:enzymology*; D006657:Histones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008745:Methylation; D011392:Proline / Q000378:metabolism; D011496:Protein Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D011484:Protein-Arginine N-Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D006657:Histones; D011392:Proline; D011496:Protein Methyltransferases; C571520:NTMT protein, Drosophila; C571519:ART8 protein, Drosophila; D011484:Protein-Arginine N-Methyltransferases