It has been established that regulation of chromatin structure through post-translational modification of histone proteins, primarily histone H3 phosphorylation and acetylation, is an important early step in the induction of synaptic plasticity and formation of long-term memory. In this study, we investigated the contribution of another histone modification, histone methylation, to memory forma...

Histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) is a major hallmark of promoter-proximal histones at transcribed genes. Here, we report that a previously uncharacterized Drosophila H3K4 methyltransferase, dSet1, and not the other putative histone H3K4 methyltransferases (Trithorax; Trithorax-related protein), is predominantly responsible for histone H3K4 trimethylation. Functional and proteomics s...

The retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (pRb) is involved in mitotic exit, promoting the arrest of myoblasts, and myogenic differentiation. However, it is unclear how permanent cell cycle exit is maintained in differentiated muscle. Using RNA interference, expression profiling, and chromatin immunoprecipitations, we show that pRb is essential for cell cycle exit and the differentiation of m...

Epigenetic states defined by chromatin can be maintained through mitotic cell division. However, it remains unknown how histone-based information is transmitted. Here we combine nascent chromatin capture (NCC) and triple-SILAC (stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture) labeling to track histone modifications and histone variants during DNA replication and across the cell cycle. ...

The histone-modifying complexes PRC2 and TrxG/MLL play pivotal roles in determining the activation state of genes controlling pluripotency, lineage commitment, and cell differentiation. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) can bind to either complex, and some have been shown to act as modulators of PRC2 or TrxG/MLL activity. Here we show that the lateral mesoderm-specific lncRNA Fendrr is essential fo...

Abstract Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) are the most common cause of death in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) yet non-invasive diagnosis and risk stratification NF-1-associated remains challenging. Moreover, relationship between radiographic features pathologic measures such as mitotic index necrosis, or molecular markers malignant transformation H3K27 trimethyl...

Many lineage-specific developmental regulator genes are transcriptionally primed in embryonic stem (ES) cells; RNA Pol(II) is bound at their promoters but is prevented from productive elongation by the activity of polycomb repressive complexes (PRC) 1 and 2. This epigenetically poised state is thought to enable ES cells to rapidly execute multiple differentiation programs and is recognized by a...

The connections between various nuclear processes and specific histone posttranslational modifications are dependent to a large extent on the acquisition of those modifications after histone synthesis. The reestablishment of histone posttranslational modifications after S phase is especially critical for H3K9 and H3K27 trimethylation, both of which are linked with epigenetic memory and must be ...