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The induction of immediate-early (IE) genes, including proto-oncogenes c-fos and c-jun, correlates well with a nucleosomal response, the phosphorylation of histone H3 and HMG-14 mediated via extracellular signal regulated kinase or p38 MAP kinase cascades. Phosphorylation is targeted to a minute fraction of histone H3, which is also especially susceptible to hyperacetylation. Here, we provide direct evidence that phosphorylation and acetylation of histone H3 occur on the same histone H3 tail on nucleosomes associated with active IE gene chromatin. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays were performed using antibodies that specifically recognize the doubly-modified phosphoacetylated form of histone H3. Analysis of the associated DNA shows that histone H3 on c-fos- and c-jun-associated nucleosomes becomes doubly-modified, the same H3 tails becoming both phosphorylated and acetylated, only upon gene activation. This study reveals potential complications of occlusion when using site-specific antibodies against modified histones, and shows also that phosphorylated H3 is more sensitive to trichostatin A (TSA)-induced hyperacetylation than non-phosphorylated H3. Because MAP kinase-mediated gene induction is implicated in controlling diverse biological processes, histone H3 phosphoacetylation is likely to be of widespread significance.

The nucleosomal response refers to the rapid phosphorylation of histone H3 on serine 10 and HMG-14 on serine 6 that occurs concomitantly with immediate-early (IE) gene induction in response to a wide variety of stimuli. Using antibodies against the phosphorylated residues, we show that H3 and HMG-14 phosphorylation is mediated via different MAP kinase (MAPK) cascades, depending on the stimulus. The nucleosomal response elicited by TPA is ERK-dependent, whereas that elicited by anisomycin is p38 MAPK-dependent. In intact cells, the nucleosomal response can be selectively inhibited using the protein kinase inhibitor H89. MAPK activation and phosphorylation of transcription factors are largely unaffected by H89, whereas induction of IE genes is inhibited and its characteristics markedly altered. MSK1 is considered the most likely kinase to mediate this response because (i) it is activated by both ERK and p38 MAPKs; (ii) it is an extremely efficient kinase for HMG-14 and H3, utilizing the physiologically relevant sites; and (iii) its activity towards H3/HMG-14 is uniquely sensitive to H89 inhibition. Thus, the nucleosomal response is an invariable consequence of ERK and p38 but not JNK/SAPK activation, and MSK1 potentially provides a link to complete the circuit between cell surface and nucleosome.

The rapid, transient induction of 80-100 immediate-early (IE) genes upon mitogenic stimulation occurs irrespective of protein synthesis and is mediated by modification of existing proteins. Two mechanisms, not mutually exclusive, involving modification either of sequence-specific transcription factors or of structural chromatin proteins primed by pre-association with responsive effectors are conceivable. Here, we show that upon IE gene induction, the non-histone high-mobility-group protein HMG-14, but not the related protein HMG-17, becomes serine phosphorylated in its basic, amino-terminal region close to where it binds nucleosomal DNA. Phosphorylation, normally transient, occurs independent of transcription and is quantitative and prolonged during superinduction. Brief micrococcal nuclease digestion substantially releases HMG-14 from nuclei in the mononucleosome-bound state. Finally, mononucleosomes prepared from mitogen-stimulated, but not control, cells contain a mitogen-activated kinase that phosphorylates HMG-14 in vitro on the same site(s) as in intact cells. The association of HMG-14 and its mitogen-activated kinase with nuclease-sensitive mononucleosomes has implications for models of mitogen-stimulated IE gene induction.