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Histone residues required for an adaptive response to an increase in temperature (blue) or salt concentration (red). Image: IRB Barcelona.
 22.04.2020

Histones and their modifications are crucial for adaptation to cell stress

The Cell Signaling laboratory at IRB Barcelona, ​​led by Eulàlia de Nadal and Francesc Posas at the Barcelona Science Park, has identified more than 200 regions (amino acids) in histones that are responsible for regulating the response to cell stress. The study reports that histones undergo distinct modifications depending on the type of cell stress.

 

The genetic material—DNA— of plants and animals (within the latter humans) is stored inside the cell, and DNA packing is guaranteed by proteins called histones. Furthermore, histones play a key role in regulating the activation of gene expression and its timing: a given stimulus modifies a histone, making it allow or repress the expression of a gene.

The Cell Signaling laboratory at IRB Barcelona, ​​led by Eulàlia de Nadal and Francesc Posas, has identified more than 200 regions (amino acids) in histones that, under cellular stress, undergo modifications to regulate the response to this condition.

Also, they have observed that stress of distinct nature, such as that caused by excess heat or salinity, leads to different histone modifications, thereby pointing to a “personalized” adaptation response to each type of stress. The study has been carried out on the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a model organism widely used in biomedicine.

“The histone modifications that regulate gene expression under normal conditions are being widely studied,” says Eulàlia de Nadal. “However, little was known about the role of histones in responses to cellular stress, which have to be rapid and highly dynamic. Information about this role is important because the regulation of histones is associated with a wide range of diseases,” she concludes.

► Reference article: Cristina Viéitez, Gerard Martínez-Cebrián, Carme Solé, René Böttcher, Clement M Potel, Mikhail M Savitski, Sara Onnebo, Marc Fabregat, Ali Shilatifard, Francesc Posas, Eulàlia de Nadal. A genetic analysis reveals novel histone residues required for transcriptional reprogramming upon stress. Nucleic Acids Research (2020) DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa081

► More information: IRB Barcelona website [+]