Microarray Analysis Reveals Potential Biological Functions of Histone H2B Monoubiquitination

PLoS One. 2015 Jul 15;10(7):e0133444. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133444. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Histone H2B monoubiquitination is a key histone modification that has significant effects on chromatin higher-order structure and gene transcription. Multiple biological processes have been suggested to be tightly related to the dynamics of H2B monoubiquitination. However, a comprehensive understanding of biological roles of H2B monoubiquitination is still poorly understood. In the present study, we developed an efficient tool to disrupt endogenous H2B monoubiquitination levels by using an H2BK120R mutant construct expressed in human cells. Genome-wide microarray analysis of these cells revealed a potential global view of biological functions of H2B monoubiquitination. Bioinformatics analysis of our data demonstrated that while H2B monoubiquitination expectedly affected a number of previously reported biological pathways, we also uncovered the influence of this histone modification on many novel biological processes. Therefore, our work provided valuable information for understanding the role of H2B monoubiquitination and indicated potential directions for its further studies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Differentiation / genetics
  • Chromatin / metabolism
  • DNA Damage / genetics
  • DNA Repair / genetics
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • HEK293 Cells
  • HeLa Cells
  • Histones / genetics
  • Histones / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells / cytology
  • Mutant Proteins / metabolism
  • Mutation / genetics
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis*
  • Ubiquitin / metabolism
  • Ubiquitination*

Substances

  • Chromatin
  • Histones
  • Mutant Proteins
  • Ubiquitin

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, Grant No. 2015CB964800), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31201051), and the Shanghai Municipal Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 12ZR1433100, 12ZR1433000). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.