Wilfried Helliger

Postsynthetic trimethylation of histone H4 at lysine 20 in mammalian tissues is associated with aging.

Methylation of the N-terminal region of histones was first described more than 35 years ago, but its biological significance has remained unclear. Proposed functions range from transcriptional regulation to the higher order packing of chromatin in progress of mitotic condensation. Primarily because of the recent discovery of the SET domain-depending H3-specific histone methyltransferases SUV39H1 and Suv39h1, which selectively methylate lysine 9 of the H3 N terminus, this posttranslational modification has regained scientific interest. In the past, investigations concerning the biological significance of histone methylation were largely limited because of a lack of simple and sensitive analytical procedures for detecting this modification. The present work investigated the methylation pattern of histone H4 both in different mammalian organs of various ages and in cell lines by applying mass spectrometric analysis and a newly developed hydrophilic-interaction liquid chromatographic method enabling the simultaneous separation of methylated and acetylated forms, which obviates the need to work with radioactive materials. In rat kidney and liver the dimethylated lysine 20 was found to be the main methylation product, whereas the monomethyl derivative was present in much smaller amounts. In addition, for the first time a trimethylated form of lysine 20 of H4 was found in mammalian tissue. A significant increase in this trimethylated histone H4 was detected in organs of animals older than 30 days, whereas the amounts of mono- and dimethylated forms did not essentially change in organs from young (10 days old) or old animals (30 and 450 days old). Trimethylated H4 was also detected in transformed cells; although it was present in only trace amounts in logarithmically growing cells, we found an increase in trimethylated lysine 20 in cells in the stationary phase.

Histone H4 lysine 20 monomethylation is increased in promoter and coding regions of active genes and correlates with hyperacetylation

Methylation and acetylation of position-specific lysine residues in the N-terminal tail of histones H3 and H4 play an important role in regulating chromatin structure and function. In the case of H3-Lys4, H3-Lys9, H3-Lys27, and H4-Lys20, the degree of methyla-tion was variable from the mono- to the di- or trimethylated state, each of which was presumed to be involved in the organization of chromatin and the activation or repression of genes. Here we inves-tigated the interplay between histone H4-Lys20 mono- and trim-ethylation and H4 acetylation at induced (β-major/β-minor glo-bin), repressed (c-myc), and silent (embryonic β-globin) genes during in vitro differentiation of mouse erythroleukemia cells. By using chromatin immunoprecipitation, we found that the β-majorand β-minor promoter and the β-globin coding regions as well as the promoter and the transcribed exon 2 regions of the highly expressed c-myc gene were hyperacetylated and monomethylated at H4-Lys20. Although activation of the β-globin gene resulted in an increase in hyperacetylated, monomethylated H4, down-regulation of the c-myc gene did not cause a decrease in hyperacetylated, monomethylated H4-Lys20, thus showing a stable pattern of histone modifications. Immunofluorescence microscopy studies revealed that monomethylated H4-Lys20 mainly overlaps with RNA pol II-stained euchromatic regions, thus indicating an association with transcriptionally engaged chromatin. Our chromatin immunopre-cipitation results demonstrated that in contrast to trimethylated H4-Lys20, which was found to inversely correlate with H4 hyper-acetylation, H4-Lys20 monomethylation is compatible with histone H4 hyperacetylation and correlates with the transcriptionally active or competent chromatin state.

Separation of acetylated core histones by hydrophilic-interaction liquid chromatography

Hydrophilic-interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) has recently been introduced as a highly efficient chromatographic technique for the separation of a wide range of solutes. The present work was performed with the aim of evaluating the potential utility of HILIC for the separation of postranslationally acetylated histones. The protein fractionations were generally achieved by using a weak cation-exchange column and an increasing sodium perchlorate gradient system in the presence of acetonitrile (70%, v/v) at pH 3.0. In combination with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) we have successfully separated various H2A variants and posttranslationally acetylated forms of H2A variants and H4 proteins in very pure form. An unambiguous assignment of the histone fractions obtained was performed using high-performance capillary and acid-urea-Triton gel electrophoresis. Our results demonstrate that for the analysis and isolation of modified core histone variants HILIC provides a new and important alternative to traditional separation techniques and will be useful in studying the biological function of histone acetylation.

Histone H1 phosphorylation occurs site-specifically during interphase and mitosis: identification of a novel phosphorylation site on histone H1.

H1 histones, isolated from logarithmically growing and mitotically enriched human lymphoblastic T-cells (CCRF-CEM), were fractionated by reversed phase and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography, subjected to enzymatic digestion, and analyzed by amino acid sequencing and mass spectrometry. During interphase the four H1 subtypes present in these cells differ in their maximum phosphorylation levels: histone H1.5 is tri-, H1.4 di-, and H1.3 and H1.2, only monophosphorylated. The phosphorylation is site-specific and occurs exclusively on serine residues of SP(K/A)K motifs. The phosphorylation sites of histone H1.5 from mitotically enriched cells were also examined. In contrast to the situation in interphase, at mitosis there were additional phosphorylations, exclusively at threonine residues. Whereas the tetraphosphorylated H1.5 arises from the triphosphosphorylated form by phosphorylation of one of two TPKK motifs in the C-terminal domain, namely Thr137 and Thr154, the pentaphosphorylated H1.5 was the result of phosphorylation of one of the tetraphosphorylated forms at a novel nonconsensus motif at Thr10 in the N-terminal tail. Despite the fact that histone H1.5 has five (S/T)P(K/A)K motifs, all of these motifs were never found to be phosphorylated simultaneously. Our data suggest that phosphorylation of human H1 variants occurs nonrandomly during both interphase and mitosis and that distinct serine- or threonine-specific kinases are involved in different cell cycle phases. The order of increased phosphorylation and the position of modification might be necessary for regulated chromatin decondensation, thus facilitating processes of replication and transcription as well as of mitotic chromosome condensation.

Application of hydrophilic-interaction liquid chromatography to the separation of phosphorylated H1 histones.

A new two-step high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) procedure has been developed to separate modified histone H1 subtypes. Reversed-phase (RP) HPLC followed by hydrophilic-interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) was used for analytical and semi-preparative scale fractionation of multi-phosphorylated H1 histone subtypes into their non-phosphorylated and distinct phosphorylated forms. The HILIC system utilizes the weak cation-exchange column PolyCAT A and an increasing sodium perchlorate gradient in a methanephosphonic acid-triethylamine buffer (pH 3.0) in the presence of 70% (v/v) acetonitrile. The identity and purity of the individual histone subfractions obtained was assayed by capillary electrophoretic analysis. The results demonstrate that application of the combined RP-HPLC-HILIC procedure to the analysis and isolation of modified H1 histone subtypes provides an innovative and important alternative to traditional separation techniques that will be extremely useful in studying the biological function of histone phosphorylation.

Age-dependent deamidation of asparagine residues in proteins

Nonenzymatic deamidation of peptides and proteins represents an important degradation reaction occurring in vitro in the course of isolation or storage and in vivo during development and/or aging of cells. This review first presents a synopsis of the influence of structure on deamidation reaction proceeding via a five-membered succinimide intermediate, followed by an outline of procedures for separation and detection of deamidated forms. Selected examples for in vitro and in vivo deamidation are reviewed including the possible biological consequences of this protein degradation. Finally, the reaction of protein methyltransferase with L-isoaspartyl- and D-aspartyl residues and its possible role in protein repair is elucidated.

In Vitro Binding of H1 Histone Subtypes to Nucleosomal Organized Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus Long Terminal Repeat Promotor

The binding of all known linker histones, named H1a through H1e, including H10 and H1t, to a model chromatin complex based on a DNA fragment containing the mouse mammary tumor virus long terminal repeat promotor was systematically studied. As for the histone subtype H1b, we found a dissociation constant of 8–16 nm to a single mononucleosome (210 base pairs), whereas the binding constant of all other subtypes varied between 2 and 4 nm. Most of the H1 histones, namely H1a, H1c, H1d/e, and H10, completely aggregate polynucleosomes (1.3 kilobase pairs, 6 nucleosomes) at 270–360 nm, corresponding to a molar ratio of six to eight H1 molecules per reconstituted nucleosome. To form aggregates with the histones H1t and H1b, however, greater amounts of protein were required. Furthermore, our results show that specific types of in vivo phosphorylation of the linker histone tails influence both the binding to mononucleosomes and the aggregation of polynucleosomes. S phase-specific phosphorylation with one to three phosphate groups at specific sites in the C terminus influences neither the binding to a mononucleosome nor the aggregation of polynucleosomes. In contrast, highly phosphorylated H1 histones with four to five phosphate groups in the C and N termini reveal a very high binding affinity to a mononucleosome but a low chromatin aggregation capability. These findings suggest that specific S phase or mitotic phosphorylation sites act independently and have distinct functional roles.

Histone H4 hyperacetylation precludes histone H4 lysine 20 trimethylation

Posttranslational modification of histones is a common means of regulating chromatin structure and thus diverse nuclear processes. Using a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic separation method in combination with mass spectrometric analysis, the present study investigated the alterations in histone H4 methylation/acetylation status and the interplay between H4 methylation and acetylation during in vitro differentiation of mouse erythroleukemia cells and how these modifications affect the chromatin structure. Independently of the type of inducer used (dimethyl sulfoxide, hexamethylenebisacetamide, butyrate, and trichostatin A), we observed a strong increase in non- and monoacetylated H4 lysine 20 (H4-Lys20) trimethylation. An increase in H4-Lys20 trimethylation, however, to a clearly lesser extent, was also found when cells accumulated in the stationary phase. Since we show that trimethylated H4-Lys20 is localized to heterochromatin, the increase in H4-Lys20 trimethylation observed indicates an accumulation of chromatin-dense and transcriptionally silent regions during differentiation and during the accumulation of control cells in the stationary phase, respectively. When using the deacetylase inhibitors butyrate or trichostatin A, we found that H4 hyperacetylation prevents H4-Lys20 trimethylation, but not mono- or dimethylation, and that the nonacetylated unmethylated H4-Lys20 is therefore the most suitable substrate for H4-Lys20 trimethylase. Summarizing, histone H4-Lys20 hypotrimethylation correlates with H4 hyperacetylation and H4-Lys20 hypertrimethylation correlates with H4 hypoacetylation. The results provide a model for how transcriptionally active euchromatin might be converted to the compacted, transcriptionally silent heterochromatin.

The Microheterogeneity of the Mammalian H10Histone EVIDENCE FOR AN AGE-DEPENDENT DEAMIDATION

Histone H10 is known to consist of two subfractions named H10a and H10b. The present work was performed with the aim of elucidating the nature of these two subfractions. By using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography in combination with hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography, we fractionated human histone H10 into even four subfractions. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic analysis of the peptide fragments obtained after cleavage with cyanogen bromide and digestion with chymotrypsin suggested that the four H10 subfractions differ only in their small N-terminal end of the H10 molecule (30 residues). Edman degradation of the N-terminal H10 peptide fragments and mass spectra analysis have indicated that human histone H10 consists of intact histones H10 (named H10 Asn-3) and deamidated H10 forms (H10 Asp-3) having an aspartic acid residue at position 3 instead of asparagine. Moreover, both H10 Asn-3 and H10 Asp-3 are blocked (H10a Asn-3, H10a Asp-3) and unblocked (H10b Asn-3, H10b Asp-3) on their N terminus. Acid-urea gel electrophoretic analysis has shown that the histone subfraction, in the literature originally named H10a, actually consists of a mixture of H10a Asn-3 and H10a Asp-3, whereas H10b consists of H10b Asn-3 and H10b Asp-3. Furthermore, we found that hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography separates rat and mouse histone H10 just like human H10 into four subfractions. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic analysis of brain and liver histone H10 from rats of different ages revealed an age-dependent increase of both the N-terminally acetylated and the deamidated forms of H10. In addition, we found that the relative proportions of the four forms of H10 histones differ from tissue to tissue.

Hyperphosphorylation of histone H2A.X and dephosphorylation of histone H1 subtypes in the course of apoptosis.

Chromatin condensation paralleled by DNA fragmentation is one of the most important nuclear events occurring during apoptosis. Histone modifications, and in particular phosphorylation, have been suggested to affect chromatin function and structure during both cell cycle and cell death. We report here that phosphate incorporation into all H1 subtypes decreased rapidly after induction of apoptosis, evidently causing a strong reduction in phosphorylated forms of main H1 histone subtypes. H1 dephosphorylation is accompanied by chromatin condensation preceding the onset of typical chromatin oligonucleosomal fragmentation, whereas H2A.X hyperphosphorylation is strongly correlated to apoptotic chromatin fragmentation. Using various kinase inhibitors we were able to exclude some of the possible kinases which can be involved directly or indirectly in phosphorylation of histone H2A.X. Neither DNA-dependent protein kinase, protein kinase A, protein kinase G, nor the kinases driven by the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP) pathway appear to be responsible for H2A.X phosphorylation. The protein kinase C activator phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), however, markedly reduced the induction of apoptosis in TNFα-treated cells with a simultaneous change in the phosphorylation pattern of histone H2A.X. Hyperphosphorylation of H2A.X in apoptotic cells depends indirectly on activation of caspases and nuclear scaffold proteases as shown in zVAD-(OMe)-fmk- or zAPF-cmk-treated cells, whereas the dephosphorylation of H1 subtypes seems to be influenced solely by caspase inhibitors. Together, these results illustrate that H1 dephosphorylation and H2A.X hyperphosphorylation are necessary steps on the apoptotic pathway.