Maintenance of cell fates and regulation of the histone variant H3.3 by TLK kinase in Caenorhabditis elegans

• Main Authors: Yukimasa Shibata, Yoshiyuki Seki, Kiyoji Nishiwaki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Company of Biologists 2019-01-01
• Series: Biology Open
• Subjects: Tousled-like kinase; CAF1; SIN3; BET; MYST HAT
• Online Access: http://bio.biologists.org/content/8/1/bio038448

Cell-fate maintenance is important to preserve the variety of cell types that are essential for the formation and function of tissues. We previously showed that the acetylated histone-binding protein BET-1 maintains cell fate by recruiting the histone variant H2A.z. Here, we report that Caenorhabditis elegans TLK-1 and the histone H3 chaperone CAF1 prevent the accumulation of histone variant H3.3. In addition, TLK-1 and CAF1 maintain cell fate by repressing ectopic expression of transcription factors that induce cell-fate specification. Genetic analyses suggested that TLK-1 and BET-1 act in parallel pathways. In tlk-1 mutants, the loss of SIN-3, which promotes histone acetylation, suppressed a defect in cell-fate maintenance in a manner dependent on MYST family histone acetyltransferase MYS-2 and BET-1. sin-3 mutation also suppressed abnormal H3.3 incorporation. Thus, we propose a hypothesis that the regulation and interaction of histone variants play crucial roles in cell-fate maintenance through the regulation of selector genes.