bims-meprid Biomed News
on Metabolic-dependent epigenetic reprogramming in differentiation and disease
Issue of 2021–05–23
two papers selected by
Alessandro Carrer, Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine



  1. Plant Physiol. 2021 May 18. pii: kiab222. [Epub ahead of print]
      Nitric oxide (NO) is a signaling molecule with multiple regulatory functions in plant physiology and stress response. In addition to direct effects on transcriptional machinery, NO executes its signaling function via epigenetic mechanisms. We report that light intensity-dependent changes in NO correspond to changes in global histone acetylation (H3, H3K9 and H3K9/K14) in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) wild-type leaves, and that this relationship depends on S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR) and histone deacetylase 6 (HDA6). The activity of HDA6 was sensitive to NO, demonstrating that NO participates in regulation of histone acetylation. ChIP-seq and RNA-seq analyses revealed that NO participates in the metabolic switch from growth and development to stress response. This coordinating function of NO might be particularly important in plant ability to adapt to a changing environment, and is therefore a promising foundation for mitigating the negative effects of climate change on plant productivity.
    Keywords:  Nitric oxide; S-nitrosoglutathione reductase; S-nitrosothiols; development; epigenetics; growth; histone acetylation; histone deacetylase 6; stress response
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiab222
  2. Trends Parasitol. 2021 May 12. pii: S1471-4922(21)00088-X. [Epub ahead of print]
      Protein lysine acetylation has emerged as a major regulatory post-translational modification in different organisms, present not only on histone proteins affecting chromatin structure and gene expression but also on nonhistone proteins involved in several cellular processes. The same scenario was observed in protozoan parasites after the description of their acetylomes, indicating that acetylation might regulate crucial biological processes in these parasites. The demonstration that glycolytic enzymes are regulated by acetylation in protozoans shows that this modification might regulate several other processes implicated in parasite survival and adaptation during the life cycle, opening the chance to explore the regulatory acetylation machinery of these parasites as drug targets for new treatment development.
    Keywords:  KATs; KDACs; acetylation; acetylome; bromodomain; glycolysis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2021.04.008