PRC1 and PRC2 are not required for targeting of H2A.Z to developmental genes in embryonic stem cells
Abstract
The essential histone variant H2A.Z localises to both active and silent chromatin sites. In embryonic stem cells (ESCs), H2A.Z is also reported to co-localise with polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) at developmentally silenced genes. The mechanism of H2A.Z targeting is not clear, but a role for the PRC2 component Suz12 has been suggested. Given this association, we wished to determine if polycomb functionally directs H2A.Z incorporation in ESCs. We demonstrate that the PRC1 component Ring1B interacts with multiple complexes in ESCs. Moreover, we show that although the genomic distribution of H2A.Z co-localises with PRC2, Ring1B and with the presence of CpG islands, H2A.Z still blankets polycomb target loci in the absence of Suz12, Eed (PRC2) or Ring1B (PRC1). Therefore we conclude that H2A.Z accumulates at developmentally silenced genes in ESCs in a polycomb independent manner.
Citation
Illingworth , R S , Botting , C H , Grimes , G R , Bickmore , W A & Eskeland , R 2012 , ' PRC1 and PRC2 are not required for targeting of H2A.Z to developmental genes in embryonic stem cells ' , PLoS ONE , vol. 7 , no. 4 , e34848 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0034848
Publication
PLoS ONE
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1932-6203Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2012 Illingworth et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Description
This work was supported by the Medical Research Council, UK and by grant BB/H008500/1 from the BBSRC.Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.