The human MOF gene encodes a protein that specifically acetylates histone H4 at lysine 16 (H4K16ac). Here we show that reduced levels of H4K16ac correlate with a defective DNA damage response (DDR) and double-strand break (DSB) repair to ionizing radiation (IR). The defect, however, is not due to altered expression of proteins involved in DDR. Abrogation of IR-induced DDR by MOF depletion is inhibited by blocking H4K16ac deacetylation. MOF was found to be associated with the DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs), a protein involved in nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) repair. ATM-dependent IR-induced phosphorylation of DNA-PKcs was also abrogated in MOF-depleted cells. Our data indicate that MOF depletion greatly decreased DNA double-strand break repair by both NHEJ and homologous recombination (HR). In addition, MOF activity was associated with general chromatin upon DNA damage and colocalized with the synaptonemal complex in male meiocytes. We propose that MOF, through H4K16ac (histone code), has a critical role at multiple stages in the cellular DNA damage response and DSB repair.In eukaryotes, specifically in mammals, the mechanisms by which the DNA damage response (DDR) components gain access to broken DNA in compacted chromatin remain a mystery. The DNA damage response occurs within the context of chromatin, and its structure is altered post-DNA double-strand break (DSB) induction. Major alterations include (i) chromatin remodeling via ATP-dependent activities and covalent histone modifications and (ii) incorporation of histone variants into nucleosomes. Chromatin structure creates a natural barrier to damaged DNA sites, which suggests that histone modifications will play a primary role in DDR by facilitating repair protein access to DNA breaks (43,58,87,88). While some experimental evidence indicates that preexisting histone modifications may play an important role in DDR, the precise role of chromatin status prior to DNA damage on DDR is yet to be clearly established. For instance, biochemical and cell biology studies indicate that repair proteins (53BP1, Schizosaccharomyces pombe Crb2 [SpCrb2], and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad9 [ScRad9]) require methylated Lys79 of histone H3 (H3-K79) (29) or methylated Lys20 of histone H4 (H4-K20) and/or CBP/p300-mediated acetylation of histone H3 on lysine 56 (9,15,29,66,93) for focus formation at DNA-damaged sites. These modifications are normally present on chromatin, and none has been reported to change in response to ionizing radiation (IR)-induced DNA damage. However, it is yet to be established whether preexisting acetylation of specific histone residues at the time of cellular exposure to IR plays any critical role in DDR. While recent studies demonstrate that in human cells, histone H3 acetylated at K9 (H3K9ac) and H3K56ac are rapidly and reversibly reduced in response to DNA damage, most histone acetylation modifications do not change appreciably after genotoxic stress (80).The amino-terminal tail of histone H4 is a well-described target fo...

We have determined that hMOF, the human ortholog of the Drosophila MOF gene (males absent on the first), encoding a protein with histone acetyltransferase activity, interacts with the ATM (ataxia-telangiectasiamutated) protein. Cellular exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) enhances hMOF-dependent acetylation of its target substrate, lysine 16 (K16) of histone H4 independently of ATM function. Blocking the IR-induced increase in acetylation of histone H4 at K16, either by the expression of a dominant negative mutant ⌬hMOF or by RNA interference-mediated hMOF knockdown, resulted in decreased ATM autophosphorylation, ATM kinase activity, and the phosphorylation of downstream effectors of ATM and DNA repair while increasing cell killing. In addition, decreased hMOF activity was associated with loss of the cell cycle checkpoint response to DNA double-strand breaks. The overexpression of wild-type hMOF yielded the opposite results, i.e., a modest increase in cell survival and enhanced DNA repair after IR exposure. These results suggest that hMOF influences the function of ATM.In eukaryotic cells, DNA damage activates signal transduction pathways that rapidly affect downstream processes such as gene transcription, cell cycle progression, and DNA replication (13,25). All of these processes involve alterations in chromatin structure. Posttranslational covalent modifications of histones have emerged as key regulatory events in DNA damage response. A widespread modification is acetylation catalyzed by histone acetyltransferases and reversed by deacetylases (3, 13, 50). Reversible acetylation of four lysines (K) at positions 5, 8, 12, and 16 in the amino-terminal tail of histone H4 occurs in vivo in all eukaryotes (3). The hyperacetylation of histone H4 could lead to the unfolding of the nucleosomal fiber (50), and the acetylation of histone H4 at K16 occurs on the hyperactive male X chromosome of Drosophila polytene chromosomes (51). Ikura et al. (19) noted that Tip60 (Tat-interacting protein), which acetylates histones H2A, H3, and H4, plays a role in DNA repair. More recently, Kusch et al. (28) demonstrated that the Drosophila Tip60 acetylates nucleosomal phosphoH2Av and exchanges it with an unmodified H2Av. Bird et al. (5) reported that the acetylation of histone H4 by Esa1 (essential SAS2-related acetyltransferase) is required for DNA repair in yeast and suggested that a similar modification may function in mammalian cells.ATM (ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated protein) is crucial for the initiation of signaling pathways in mammalian cells following exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) and other DNA-damaging agents (36, 46), and cells deficient in ATM function also have defective telomere chromatin (47). Bakkenist and Kastan (4) have suggested that chromatin structural perturbations induced by DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) serve as a trigger for ATM activation. Recent studies indicate that the MRN (Mre11, Rad50, and Nbs1) complex as well as TRF2 either influences activation of ATM (9, 29, 52) or serves as a modulator/amp...

The mammalian ortholog of the Drosophila MOF (males absent on the first) gene product is a histone H4 lysine 16-specific acetyltransferase. Recent studies have shown that depletion of human MOF (hMOF) in human cell lines leads to genomic instability, spontaneous chromosomal aberrations, cell cycle defects, altered nuclear morphology, reduced transcription of certain genes, and defective DNA damage response to ionizing radiation (IR). Here we show that MOF plays an essential role in mammals during embryogenesis and oncogenesis. Ablation of the mouse Mof gene (mMof) by gene targeting resulted in early embryonic lethality and cell death. Lethality correlated with the loss of H4 lysine 16 acetylation (H4K16ac) and could not be rescued by concomitant inactivation of ATM or p53. In comparison to primary cells or normal tissue, all immortalized human normal and tumor cell lines and primary tumors demonstrated similar or elevated hMOF and H4K16ac levels. Accordingly, MOF overexpression correlated with increased cellular proliferation, oncogenic transformation, and tumor growth. Thus, these data reveal that the acetylation of histone H4 at K16 by MOF is an epigenetic signature of cellular proliferation common to both embryogenesis and oncogenesis and that MOF is an essential factor for embryogenesis and oncogenesis.MOF belongs to the MYST family of acetyltransferases, which have been associated with acute myeloid leukemia (MOZ), transcriptional silencing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SAS2 and YBF2/SAS3), interactions with human immunodeficiency virus Tat in humans (TIP60), and dosage compensation in Drosophila melanogaster (MOF), in addition to their role in DNA damage repair (2,4,12,13,17,18,43,44,46). Akhtar and Becker (1) demonstrated that Drosophila MOF is a histone acetyltransferase that acetylates chromatin specifically at histone H4 lysine 16 (H4K16). Depletion of human MOF (hMOF) in human cells results in the loss of acetylation at lysine 16 of histone H4 (6, 12, 41, 45, 46), strongly arguing that the highly conserved MOF protein may be the major histone acetyltransferase, which acetylates histone H4 at K16.Acetylation at K16 of histone H4 (H4K16ac) is a prevalent and reversible posttranslational chromatin modification in eukaryotes, and recent studies have highlighted its significance. Shogren-Knaak and coworkers have found that a single histone H4K16ac modification modulates both higher-order chromatin structure and functional interactions between a nonhistone protein and the chromatin fiber (39). Shia and coworkers have demonstrated that the presence of H4K16ac and H2A.Z synergistically prevent the ectopic propagation of heterochromatin in the subtelomeric regions of yeast (36). Furthermore, it is well understood that H4K16ac disrupts higher-order chromatin structure, changes the functional interactions between chromatin-associated proteins (39), and serves as a switch for altering chromatin from a repressive to a transcriptionally active state in yeast and humans (36). Interestingly, Dou and coworkers reported...

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are highly conserved among all organisms from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. In mice, the HSP genes Hsp70.1 and Hsp70.3 are induced by both endogenous and exogenous stressors, such as heat and toxicants. In order to determine whether such proteins specifically influence genomic instability, mice deficient for Hsp70.1 and Hsp70.3 (Hsp70