PRC2 is high maintenance
Open Access
- 23 May 2019
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Genes & Development
- Vol. 33 (15-16), 903-935
- https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.325050.119
Abstract
As the process that silences gene expression ensues during development, the stage is set for the activity of Polycomb-repressive complex 2 (PRC2) to maintain these repressed gene profiles. PRC2 catalyzes a specific histone posttranslational modification (hPTM) that fosters chromatin compaction. PRC2 also facilitates the inheritance of this hPTM through its self-contained “write and read” activities, key to preserving cellular identity during cell division. As these changes in gene expression occur without changes in DNA sequence and are inherited, the process is epigenetic in scope. Mutants of mammalian PRC2 or of its histone substrate contribute to the cancer process and other diseases, and research into these aberrant pathways is yielding viable candidates for therapeutic targeting. The effectiveness of PRC2 hinges on its being recruited to the proper chromatin sites; however, resolving the determinants to this process in the mammalian case was not straightforward and thus piqued the interest of many in the field. Here, we chronicle the latest advances toward exposing mammalian PRC2 and its high maintenance.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Institutes of Health (R01CA199652, R01NS100897)
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- American Cancer Society (PF-17-035-01)
- Simon Foundation
- National Institutes of Health (K99AA024837)
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