H3K27me3 | Ricerc@Sapienza

Inhibition of Polycomb Repressive Complex2 activity reduces trimethylation of H3K27 and affects development in Arabidopsis seedlings

Background: Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is an epigenetic transcriptional repression system, whose
catalytic subunit (ENHANCER OF ZESTE HOMOLOG 2, EZH2 in animals) is responsible for trimethylating histone H3
at lysine 27 (H3K27me3). In mammals, gain-of-function mutations as well as overexpression of EZH2 have been
associated with several tumors, therefore making this subunit a suitable target for the development of selective
inhibitors. Indeed, highly specific small-molecule inhibitors of EZH2 have been reported. In plants, mutations in

The long non-coding RNA Kcnq1ot1 controls maternal p57 expression in muscle cells by promoting H3K27me3 accumulation to an intragenic MyoD-binding region

BACKGROUND:

EZH2, JMJD3 and UTX epigenetically regulate hepatic plasticity inducing retro-differentiation and proliferation of liver cells

Modification of histones by lysine methylation plays a role in many biological processes, and it is dynamically regulated by several histone methyltransferases and demethylases. The polycomb repressive complex contains the H3K27 methyltransferase EZH2 and controls dimethylation and trimethylation of H3K27 (H3K27me2/3), which trigger gene suppression. JMJD3 and UTX have been identified as H3K27 demethylases that catalyze the demethylation of H3K27me2/3, which in turns lead to gene transcriptional activation.