Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD) is an autosomal dominant muscular dystrophy in which no mutation of pathogenic gene(s) has been identified. Instead, the disease is, in most cases, genetically linked to a contraction in the number of 3.3 kb D4Z4 repeats on chromosome 4q. How contraction of the 4qter D4Z4 repeats causes muscular dystrophy is not understood. In addition, a smaller group of FSHD cases are not associated with D4Z4 repeat contraction (termed “phenotypic” FSHD), and their etiology remains undefined. We carried out chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis using D4Z4–specific PCR primers to examine the D4Z4 chromatin structure in normal and patient cells as well as in small interfering RNA (siRNA)–treated cells. We found that SUV39H1–mediated H3K9 trimethylation at D4Z4 seen in normal cells is lost in FSHD. Furthermore, the loss of this histone modification occurs not only at the contracted 4q D4Z4 allele, but also at the genetically intact D4Z4 alleles on both chromosomes 4q and 10q, providing the first evidence that the genetic change (contraction) of one 4qD4Z4 allele spreads its effect to other genomic regions. Importantly, this epigenetic change was also observed in the phenotypic FSHD cases with no D4Z4 contraction, but not in other types of muscular dystrophies tested. We found that HP1γ and cohesin are co-recruited to D4Z4 in an H3K9me3–dependent and cell type–specific manner, which is disrupted in FSHD. The results indicate that cohesin plays an active role in HP1 recruitment and is involved in cell type–specific D4Z4 chromatin regulation. Taken together, we identified the loss of both histone H3K9 trimethylation and HP1γ/cohesin binding at D4Z4 to be a faithful marker for the FSHD phenotype. Based on these results, we propose a new model in which the epigenetic change initiated at 4q D4Z4 spreads its effect to other genomic regions, which compromises muscle-specific gene regulation leading to FSHD pathogenesis.

Proper recognition and repair of DNA damage is critical for the cell to protect its genomic integrity. Laser microirradiation ranging in wavelength from ultraviolet A (UVA) to near-infrared (NIR) can be used to induce damage in a defined region in the cell nucleus, representing an innovative technology to effectively analyze the in vivo DNA double-strand break (DSB) damage recognition process in mammalian cells. However, the damage-inducing characteristics of the different laser systems have not been fully investigated. Here we compare the nanosecond nitrogen 337 nm UVA laser with and without bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), the nanosecond and picosecond 532 nm green second-harmonic Nd:YAG, and the femtosecond NIR 800 nm Ti:sapphire laser with regard to the type(s) of damage and corresponding cellular responses. Crosslinking damage (without significant nucleotide excision repair factor recruitment) and single-strand breaks (with corresponding repair factor recruitment) were common among all three wavelengths. Interestingly, UVA without BrdU uniquely produced base damage and aberrant DSB responses. Furthermore, the total energy required for the threshold H2AX phosphorylation induction was found to vary between the individual laser systems. The results indicate the involvement of different damage mechanisms dictated by wavelength and pulse duration. The advantages and disadvantages of each system are discussed.

HepA-related protein (HARP) (also known as SMAR-CAL1) is an ATP-driven annealing helicase that catalyzes the formation of dsDNA from complementary Replication protein A (RPA)-bound ssDNA. Here we find that HARP contains a conserved N-terminal motif that is necessary and sufficient for binding to RPA. This RPAbinding motif is not required for annealing helicase activity, but is essential for the recruitment of HARP to sites of laser-induced DNA damage. These findings suggest that the interaction of HARP with RPA increases the concentration of annealing helicase activity in the vicinity of ssDNA regions to facilitate processes such as DNA repair.Supplemental material is available at http://www.genesdev.org.Received June 12, 2009; revised version accepted August 7, 2009. Proteins in the SNF2 family of ATPases participate in a variety of nuclear processes, such as chromatin assembly and remodeling, transcription, DNA repair, and recombination (Gorbalenya and Koonin 1993;Eisen et al. 1995;Flaus et al. 2006). The HepA-related protein (HARP, also known as SMARCAL1) is a distant member of the SNF2 family (Coleman et al. 2000;Flaus et al. 2006). HARP is present in many eukaryotes but appears to be absent in fungi. In humans, mutations in HARP contribute to the pleiotropic disorder known as Schimke immunoosseous dysplasia (SIOD) (Boerkoel et al. 2002).HARP is an ATP-dependent annealing helicase (Yusufzai and Kadonaga 2008). Specifically, HARP is able to rewind complementary ssDNA that is bound by the ssDNA-binding protein Replication protein A (RPA). HARP binds preferentially to fork DNA relative to ssDNA or to dsDNA (Yusufzai and Kadonaga 2008). The ATPase activity of HARP is also stimulated preferentially by fork DNA relative to ssDNA or dsDNA (Yusufzai and Kadonaga 2008). This property is consistent with the observation that the ATPase activity of HARP is enhanced by DNA species with ssDNA-dsDNA junctions (Hockensmith et al. 1986;Muthuswami et al. 2000). These findings suggest a model wherein the binding of HARP to a DNA fork activates its ATP-driven motor with which it catalyzes the rewinding of DNA.The DNA rewinding activity of HARP could potentially participate in many different processes such as transcription, DNA replication, and DNA repair, in which ssDNA regions are generated by the action of helicases or polymerases (for example, see Liu and Wang 1987;Kowalski et al. 1988;Havas et al. 2000;Pyle 2008). These ssDNA regions can be stabilized by ssDNAbinding proteins (SSBs) such as RPA, the major SSB in eukaryotes (for example, see Wold 1997;Iftode et al. 1999;Zou et al. 2006). RPA is a heterotrimer (RPA1 [70 kDa], RPA2 [32 kDa], and RPA3 [14 kDa]) that binds stably to ssDNA and prevents complementary DNA from reannealing. RPA is required for many cellular processes, including replication, recombination, and repair, during which it stabilizes ssDNA intermediates. Because HARP catalyzes the regeneration of dsDNA from complementary RPA-bound ssDNA, it is possible that there is a specific link between HARP and RPA...

Although the PR-Set7/Set8/KMT5a histone H4 Lys 20 monomethyltransferase (H4K20me1) plays an essential role in mammalian cell cycle progression, especially during G2/M, it remained unknown how PR-Set7 itself was regulated. In this study, we discovered the mechanisms that govern the dynamic regulation of PR-Set7 during mitosis, and that perturbation of these pathways results in defective mitotic progression. First, we found that PR-Set7 is phosphorylated at Ser 29 (S29) specifically by the cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (cdk1)/cyclinB complex, primarily from prophase through early anaphase, subsequent to global accumulation of H4K20me1. While S29 phosphorylation did not affect PR-Set7 methyltransferase activity, this event resulted in the removal of PR-Set7 from mitotic chromosomes. S29 phosphorylation also functions to stabilize PR-Set7 by directly inhibiting its interaction with the anaphase-promoting complex (APC), an E3 ubiquitin ligase. The dephosphorylation of S29 during late mitosis by the Cdc14 phosphatases was required for APC cdh1 -mediated ubiquitination of PR-Set7 and subsequent proteolysis. This event is important for proper mitotic progression, as constitutive phosphorylation of PR-Set7 resulted in a substantial delay between metaphase and anaphase. Collectively, we elucidated the molecular mechanisms that control PR-Set7 protein levels during mitosis, and demonstrated that its orchestrated regulation is important for normal mitotic progression.[Keywords: PR-Set7; APC; Cdk1; Cdc14; cell cycle; chromatin] Supplemental material is available at http://www.genesdev.org.

The ␤-globin locus undergoes dynamic chromatin interaction changes in differentiating erythroid cells that are thought to be important for proper globin gene expression. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. The CCCTC-binding factor, CTCF, binds to the insulator elements at the 5 and 3 boundaries of the locus, but these sites were shown to be dispensable for globin gene activation. We found that, upon induction of differentiation, cohesin and the cohesin loading factor Nipped-B-like (Nipbl) bind to the locus control region (LCR) at the CTCF insulator and distal enhancer regions as well as at the specific target globin gene that undergoes activation upon differentiation. Nipbl-dependent cohesin binding is critical for long-range chromatin interactions, both between the CTCF insulator elements and between the LCR distal enhancer and the target gene. We show that the latter interaction is important for globin gene expression in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, the results indicate that such cohesin-mediated chromatin interactions associated with gene regulation are sensitive to the partial reduction of Nipbl caused by heterozygous mutation. This provides the first direct evidence that Nipbl haploinsufficiency affects cohesin-mediated chromatin interactions and gene expression. Our results reveal that dynamic Nipbl/cohesin binding is critical for developmental chromatin organization and the gene activation function of the LCR in mammalian cells.