ESA1 is a histone acetyltransferase that is essential for growth in yeast
- Edwin R. Smith*,
- Arri Eisen†,
- Weigang Gu†,
- Martin Sattah†,
- Antonio Pannuti†,
- Jianxin Zhou*,
- Richard G. Cook‡,
- John C. Lucchesi†, and
- C. David Allis*,§
- *Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627; †Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322; and ‡Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030
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Edited by Fred Sherman, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY, and approved February 12, 1998 (received for review October 1, 1997)
Abstract
Posttranslational acetylation of core histone amino termini has long been associated with transcriptionally active chromatin. Recent reports have demonstrated histone acetyltransferase activity in a small group of conserved transcriptional regulators directly linked to gene activation. In addition, the presence of a putative acetyltransferase domain has been discovered in a group of proteins known as the MYST family (for its founding members MOZ, YBF2/SAS3, SAS2, and Tip60). Members of this family are implicated in acute myeloid leukemia (MOZ), transcriptional silencing in yeast (SAS2 and YBF2/SAS3), HIV Tat interaction in humans (Tip60), and dosage compensation in Drosophila (MOF). In this report, we express a yeast ORF with homology to MYST family members and show it possesses histone acetyltransferase activity. Unlike the other MYST family members in Saccharomyces cerevisiae this gene is essential for growth.
Footnotes
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↵ § To whom reprint requests should be addressed. e-mail: cda{at}allis.biology.rochester.edu.
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This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the Proceedings Office.
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Abbreviations: HAT, histone acetyltransferase; MYST, named for its founding members MOZ, YBF2/SAS3, SAS2, and Tip60.
- Copyright © 1998, The National Academy of Sciences
