Structural highlights
Function
[PC_DROME] Polycomb group (PcG) protein. PcG proteins act by forming multiprotein complexes, which are required to maintain the transcriptionally repressive state of homeotic genes throughout development. PcG proteins are not required to initiate repression, but to maintain it during later stages of development. Component of the PcG multiprotein PRC1 complex, a complex that acts via chromatin remodeling and modification of histones; it mediates monoubiquitination of histone H2A 'Lys-118', rendering chromatin heritably changed in its expressibility. Promotes locus-specific chromatin compaction. [H3_STRPU] Core component of nucleosome. Nucleosomes wrap and compact DNA into chromatin, limiting DNA accessibility to the cellular machineries which require DNA as a template. Histones thereby play a central role in transcription regulation, DNA repair, DNA replication and chromosomal stability. DNA accessibility is regulated via a complex set of post-translational modifications of histones, also called histone code, and nucleosome remodeling.
Evolutionary Conservation
Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf.
Publication Abstract from PubMed
The chromodomain of Drosophila Polycomb protein is essential for maintaining the silencing state of homeotic genes during development. Recent studies suggest that Polycomb mediates the assembly of repressive higher-order chromatin structures in conjunction with the methylation of Lys 27 of histone H3 by a Polycomb group repressor complex. A similar mechanism in heterochromatin assembly is mediated by HP1, a chromodomain protein that binds to histone H3 methylated at Lys 9. To understand the molecular mechanism of the methyl-Lys 27 histone code recognition, we have determined a 1.4-A-resolution structure of the chromodomain of Polycomb in complex with a histone H3 peptide trimethylated at Lys 27. The structure reveals a conserved mode of methyl-lysine binding and identifies Polycomb-specific interactions with histone H3. The structure also reveals a dPC dimer in the crystal lattice that is mediated by residues specifically conserved in the Polycomb family of chromodomains. The dimerization of dPC can effectively account for the histone-binding specificity and provides new mechanistic insights into the function of Polycomb. We propose that self-association is functionally important for Polycomb.
Structural basis for specific binding of Polycomb chromodomain to histone H3 methylated at Lys 27.,Min J, Zhang Y, Xu RM Genes Dev. 2003 Aug 1;17(15):1823-8. PMID:12897052[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
See Also
References
- ↑ Min J, Zhang Y, Xu RM. Structural basis for specific binding of Polycomb chromodomain to histone H3 methylated at Lys 27. Genes Dev. 2003 Aug 1;17(15):1823-8. PMID:12897052 doi:10.1101/gad.269603
