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Maze I, Wenderski W, Noh KM, Bagot RC, Tzavaras N, Purushothaman I, Elsässer SJ, Guo Y, Ionete C, Hurd YL, Tamminga CA, Halene T, Farrelly L, Soshnev AA, Wen D, Rafii S, Birtwistle MR, Akbarian S, Buchholz BA, Blitzer RD, Nestler EJ, Yuan ZF, Garcia BA, Shen L, Molina H, Allis CD
Neuron 87 (1) 77-94 [2015-07-01; online 2015-07-04]
Turnover and exchange of nucleosomal histones and their variants, a process long believed to be static in post-replicative cells, remains largely unexplored in brain. Here, we describe a novel mechanistic role for HIRA (histone cell cycle regulator) and proteasomal degradation-associated histone dynamics in the regulation of activity-dependent transcription, synaptic connectivity, and behavior. We uncover a dramatic developmental profile of nucleosome occupancy across the lifespan of both rodents and humans, with the histone variant H3.3 accumulating to near-saturating levels throughout the neuronal genome by mid-adolescence. Despite such accumulation, H3.3-containing nucleosomes remain highly dynamic-in a modification-independent manner-to control neuronal- and glial-specific gene expression patterns throughout life. Manipulating H3.3 dynamics in both embryonic and adult neurons confirmed its essential role in neuronal plasticity and cognition. Our findings establish histone turnover as a critical and previously undocumented regulator of cell type-specific transcription and plasticity in mammalian brain.
PubMed 26139371
DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.06.014
Crossref 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.06.014
pii: S0896-6273(15)00557-7
pmc: PMC4491146
mid: NIHMS700361