Search

In all eukaryotes, acetylation of histone lysine residues correlates with transcription activation. Whether histone acetylation is a cause or consequence of transcription is debated. One model suggests that transcription promotes the recruitment and/or activation of acetyltransferases, and histone acetylation occurs as a consequence of ongoing transcription. However, the extent to which transcription shapes the global protein acetylation landscapes is not known. Here, we show that global protein acetylation remains virtually unaltered after acute transcription inhibition. Transcription inhibition ablates the co-transcriptionally occurring ubiquitylation of H2BK120 but does not reduce histone acetylation. The combined inhibition of transcription and CBP/p300 further demonstrates that acetyltransferases remain active and continue to acetylate histones independently of transcription. Together, these results show that histone acetylation is not a mere consequence of transcription; acetyltransferase recruitment and activation are uncoupled from the act of transcription, and histone and non-histone protein acetylation are sustained in the absence of ongoing transcription., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Lysine acetylation is a reversible posttranslational modification that occurs at thousands of sites on human proteins. However, the stoichiometry of acetylation remains poorly characterized, and is important for understanding acetylation-dependent mechanisms of protein regulation. Here we provide accurate, validated measurements of acetylation stoichiometry at 6829 sites on 2535 proteins in human cervical cancer (HeLa) cells. Most acetylation occurs at very low stoichiometry (median 0.02%), whereas high stoichiometry acetylation (>1%) occurs on nuclear proteins involved in gene transcription and on acetyltransferases. Analysis of acetylation copy numbers show that histones harbor the majority of acetylated lysine residues in human cells. Class I deacetylases target a greater proportion of high stoichiometry acetylation compared to SIRT1 and HDAC6. The acetyltransferases CBP and p300 catalyze a majority (65%) of high stoichiometry acetylation. This resource dataset provides valuable information for evaluating the impact of individual acetylation sites on protein function and for building accurate mechanistic models.

Nε-lysine acetylation was discovered more than half a century ago as a post-translational modification of histones and has been extensively studied in the context of transcription regulation. In the past decade, proteomic analyses have revealed that non-histone proteins are frequently acetylated and constitute a major portion of the acetylome in mammalian cells. Indeed, non-histone protein acetylation is involved in key cellular processes relevant to physiology and disease, such as gene transcription, DNA damage repair, cell division, signal transduction, protein folding, autophagy and metabolism. Acetylation affects protein functions through diverse mechanisms, including by regulating protein stability, enzymatic activity, subcellular localization and crosstalk with other post-translational modifications and by controlling protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions. In this Review, we discuss recent progress in our understanding of the scope, functional diversity and mechanisms of non-histone protein acetylation.

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of proteins containing intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) has been proposed as a mechanism underlying the formation of membrane-less organelles. Tight regulation of IDR behavior is essential to ensure that LLPS only takes place when necessary. Here, we report that IDR acetylation/deacetylation regulates LLPS and assembly of stress granules (SGs), membrane-less organelles forming in response to stress. Acetylome analysis revealed that the RNA helicase DDX3X, an important component of SGs, is a novel substrate of the deacetylase HDAC6. The N-terminal IDR of DDX3X (IDR1) can undergo LLPS in vitro, and its acetylation at multiple lysine residues impairs the formation of liquid droplets. We also demonstrated that enhanced LLPS propensity through deacetylation of DDX3X-IDR1 by HDAC6 is necessary for SG maturation, but not initiation. Our analysis provides a mechanistic framework to understand how acetylation and deacetylation of IDRs regulate LLPS spatiotemporally, and impact membrane-less organelle formation in vivo.

Ultraviolet (UV) light radiation induces the formation of bulky photoproducts in the DNA that globally affect transcription and splicing. However, the signaling pathways and mechanisms that link UV-light-induced DNA damage to changes in RNA metabolism remain poorly understood. Here we employ quantitative phosphoproteomics and protein kinase inhibition to provide a systems view on protein phosphorylation patterns induced by UV light and uncover the dependencies of phosphorylation events on the canonical DNA damage signaling by ATM/ATR and the p38 MAP kinase pathway. We identify RNA-binding proteins as primary substrates and 14-3-3 as direct readers of p38-MK2-dependent phosphorylation induced by UV light. Mechanistically, we show that MK2 phosphorylates the RNA-binding subunit of the NELF complex NELFE on Serine 115. NELFE phosphorylation promotes the recruitment of 14-3-3 and rapid dissociation of the NELF complex from chromatin, which is accompanied by RNA polymerase II elongation.

DNA replication stress is a source of genomic instability. Here we identify changed mutation rate 1 (Cmr1) as a factor involved in the response to DNA replication stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and show that Cmr1--together with Mrc1/Claspin, Pph3, the chaperonin containing TCP1 (CCT) and 25 other proteins--define a novel intranuclear quality control compartment (INQ) that sequesters misfolded, ubiquitylated and sumoylated proteins in response to genotoxic stress. The diversity of proteins that localize to INQ indicates that other biological processes such as cell cycle progression, chromatin and mitotic spindle organization may also be regulated through INQ. Similar to Cmr1, its human orthologue WDR76 responds to proteasome inhibition and DNA damage by relocalizing to nuclear foci and physically associating with CCT, suggesting an evolutionarily conserved biological function. We propose that Cmr1/WDR76 plays a role in the recovery from genotoxic stress through regulation of the turnover of sumoylated and phosphorylated proteins.

Unscheduled homologous recombination (HR) can lead to genomic instability, which greatly increases the threat of neoplastic transformation in humans. The F-box DNA helicase 1 (FBH1) is a 3'-5' DNA helicase with a putative function as a negative regulator of HR. It is the only known DNA helicase to contain an F-box, suggesting that one of its functions is to act as a ubiquitin ligase as part of an SCF (SKP1, CUL1 and F-box) complex. Here we report that the central player in HR, RAD51, is ubiquitylated by the SCF(FBH1) complex. Expression of an ubiquitylation-resistant form of RAD51 in human cells leads to hyperrecombination, as well as several phenotypes indicative of an altered response to DNA replication stress. These effects are likely to be mediated by the enhanced nuclear matrix association of the ubiquitylation-resistant RAD51. These data are consistent with FBH1 acting as a negative regulator of RAD51 function in human cells.

Lysine acetylation is a conserved protein post-translational modification that links acetyl-coenzyme A metabolism and cellular signalling. Recent advances in the identification and quantification of lysine acetylation by mass spectrometry have increased our understanding of lysine acetylation, implicating it in many biological processes through the regulation of protein interactions, activity and localization. In addition, proteins are frequently modified by other types of acylations, such as formylation, butyrylation, propionylation, succinylation, malonylation, myristoylation, glutarylation and crotonylation. The intricate link between lysine acylation and cellular metabolism has been clarified by the occurrence of several such metabolite-sensitive acylations and their selective removal by sirtuin deacylases. These emerging findings point to new functions for different lysine acylations and deacylating enzymes and also highlight the mechanisms by which acetylation regulates various cellular processes.

Ubiquitin-mediated processes orchestrate critical DNA-damage signaling and repair pathways. We identify human DVC1 (C1orf124; Spartan) as a cell cycle-regulated anaphase-promoting complex (APC) substrate that accumulates at stalled replication forks. DVC1 recruitment to sites of replication stress requires its ubiquitin-binding UBZ domain and PCNA-binding PIP box motif but is independent of RAD18-mediated PCNA monoubiquitylation. Via a conserved SHP box, DVC1 recruits the ubiquitin-selective chaperone p97 to blocked replication forks, which may facilitate p97-dependent removal of translesion synthesis (TLS) DNA polymerase η (Pol η) from monoubiquitylated PCNA. DVC1 knockdown enhances UV light-induced mutagenesis, and depletion of human DVC1 or the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog DVC-1 causes hypersensitivity to replication stress-inducing agents. Our findings establish DVC1 as a DNA damage-targeting p97 adaptor that protects cells from deleterious consequences of replication blocks and suggest an important role of p97 in ubiquitin-dependent regulation of TLS.

Signalling networks regulate essentially all of the biology of cells and organisms in normal and disease states. Signalling is often studied using antibody-based techniques such as western blots. Large-scale 'precision proteomics' based on mass spectrometry now enables the system-wide characterization of signalling events at the levels of post-translational modifications, protein-protein interactions and changes in protein expression. This technology delivers accurate and unbiased information about the quantitative changes of thousands of proteins and their modifications in response to any perturbation. Current studies focus on phosphorylation, but acetylation, methylation, glycosylation and ubiquitylation are also becoming amenable to investigation. Large-scale proteomics-based signalling research will fundamentally change our understanding of signalling networks.