A team led by molecular biologist Professor Gunnar Schotta from LMU's Biomedical Center has investigated how the enzyme SETDB1 silences specific DNA sections by epigenetically modifying histone proteins. This modification ensures that the DNA is densely packed, reducing the accessibility of genes. The research focuses on endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) that can affect gene activity under certain circumstances. SETDB1 prevents these sequences from becoming active by adding an epigenetic mark called H3K9me3 to the respective histones. Without SETDB1, this suppression is lacking, leading to abnormal gene expression and impaired blood cell formation.
LMU molecular biologist Gunnar Schotta decodes the epigenetic silencing of problematic retroviral gene sequences.
"We're especially interested in DNA sections that have been inserted by retroviruses in the course of evolution and then inherited," says Schotta. Such endogenous retroviruses often contain binding sites for transcription factors -- that is, proteins that read and activate genes. Although these sequences are normally inactive, they can affect gene activity under certain circumstances -- hence their name of cryptic enhancers.
Maryam Kazerani, Filippo Cernilogar, Alessandra Pasquarella, Maria Hinterberger, Alexander Nuber, Ludger Klein, Gunnar Schotta.Epigenetics, the dynamic regulation of genetic expression, involves complex molecular mechanisms. While the process of gene silencing by methylating the H3K27 position in histones is understood, not ...
EPIGENETICS RETROVIRUSES GENE REGULATION BLOOD CELL FORMATION HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELLS
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