title: Cell cycle arrest induced by inhibitors of epigenetic modifications in maize (Zea mays) seedling leaves: characterization of the process and possible mechanisms involved.
abstract: Epigenetic modifications play crucial roles in the regulation of chromatin architecture and are involved in cell cycle progression, including mitosis and meiosis. To explore the relationship between epigenetic modifications and the cell cycle, we treated maize (Zea mays) seedlings with six different epigenetic modification-related inhibitors and identified the postsynthetic phase (G2 ) arrest via flow cytometry analysis. Total H4K5ac levels were significantly increased and the distribution of H3S10ph signalling was obviously changed in mitosis under various treatments. Further statistics of the cells in different periods of mitosis confirmed that the cell cycle was arrested at preprophase. Concentrations of hydrogen peroxide were relatively higher in the treated plants and the antioxidant thiourea could negate the influence of the inhibitors. Moreover, all of the treated plants displayed negative results in the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labelling (TUNEL) and γ-H2AX immunostaining assays after exposure for 3 d. Additionally, the expression level of topoisomerase genes in the treated plants was relatively lower than that in the untreated plants. These results suggest that these inhibitors of epigenetic modifications could cause preprophase arrest via reactive oxygen species formation inhibiting the expression of DNA topoisomerase genes, accompanied by changes in the H4K5ac and H3S10ph histone modifications.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
authors.forename: Pu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
authors.forename: Haoli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
authors.forename: Yingnan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
authors.forename: Liangfu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
authors.forename: Shibin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
authors.forename: Lijia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000235:genetics*; D032461:Chromosomes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000235:genetics; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics; D026942:DNA Topoisomerases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D008239:Lysine / Q000378:metabolism; D008938:Mitosis; D008954:Models, Biological; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D036226:Seedlings / Q000235:genetics*; D003313:Zea mays / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D006657:Histones; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D026942:DNA Topoisomerases; D008239:Lysine
keywords: DNA damage; Zea mays (maize); cell cycle; epigenetic modification; reactive oxygen species (ROS); topoisomerase