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MCAF2/ATF7IP2 directs meiosis-specific H3K9 methylation

ABSTRACT: H3K9 tri-methylation (H3K9me3) has emerging functions in gene regulation in addition to its accumulation on constitutive heterochromatin at pericentromeres. It remains a mystery why and how H3K9me3 is dynamically regulated in male meiosis. Here, we identify a novel and critical regulator of H3K9 methylation and spermatogenic heterochromatin organization: the germline-specific protein MCAF2 (ATF7IP2). We show that MCAF2 amasses on autosomal and X pericentric heterochromatin in male germ cells. On the sex chromosomes, which undergo meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI), the DNA damage response pathway recruits MCAF2 to X pericentric heterochromatin, where it facilitates the recruitment of SETDB1, a histone methyltransferase that catalyzes H3K9me3. In the absence of MCAF2, germ cells are arrested in meiotic prophase, and the mutant analyses revealed that MCAF2 is required for the maintenance of MSCI, and for global activation of autosomal genes and retrotransposon-derived loci in meiosis; this reveals a regulatory function for MCAF2 that is counterintuitive to its association with repressive H3K9me3. Taken together, we propose that MCAF2 is a downstream effector of the DDR pathway in meiosis that coordinates the organization of heterochromatin and gene regulation through the spatial regulation of SETDB1-mediated H3K9me3 deposition.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE223742 | GEO | 2024/02/22

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Methylation of histone H3 at lysine 9 (H3K9) is a hallmark of heterochromatin that plays crucial roles in chromatin-dependent gene silencing and maintenance of genome stability by repressing repetitive DNA elements and recruiting downstream factors essential for faithful chromosome segregation. Fundamental principles of these processes have been elucidated in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe (S. pombe), in which Clr4, the homologue of mammalian SUV39H, is the sole H3K9 methyltransferase. Although H3K9 methylation has been intensely studied in mitotic cells, occurrence and regulation during sexual differentiation remain largely unknown. Whether distinct H3 methylation states are relevant for gametogenesis is also not known. Here, using diploid S. pombe cells, we map H3K9 methylation genome-wide during the meiotic program and show that constitutive heterochromatin temporarily loses H3K9me2 and becomes H3K9me3 when cells exit mitosis and commit to the meiotic life cycle. Cells lacking the ability to tri-methylate H3K9 exhibit severe meiotic chromosome segregation defects, which does not occur in mitotic cells. Artificially increasing the affinity of the fission yeast heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) homologue Swi6 towards H3K9me2 rescues chromosome segregation in the absence of H3K9me3. Thus, the H3K9me2 to H3K9me3 switch during early meiosis serves to retain Swi6 at centromeres, which is necessary for cohesin recruitment and kinetochore assembly. Finally, we show that the H3K9 methylation switch is regulated by differential phosphorylation of Clr4 by the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) Cdk1. Our results reveal how a highly conserved master regulator of the cell cycle regulates the specificity of the H3K9 methyltransferase and thereby controls the ratio of H3K9me2 to H3K9me3 to prevent unwanted gene silencing and to ensure faithful meiotic chromosome segregation. High degree of conservation of the proteins involved in our study and CDK-dependent phosphorylation of the mammalian SUV39H1 homologue suggest broad conservation of the mechanisms described here.

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MCAF2/ATF7IP2 directs meiosis-specific H3K9 methylation

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