Correlation Does Not Imply Causation: Histone Methyltransferases, but Not Histone Methylation, SET the Stage for Enhancer Activation

Tim Pollex; Eileen E M Furlong

doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2017.05.005

Correlation Does Not Imply Causation: Histone Methyltransferases, but Not Histone Methylation, SET the Stage for Enhancer Activation

Mol Cell. 2017 May 18;66(4):439-441. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2017.05.005.

Authors

Tim Pollex¹, Eileen E M Furlong²

Affiliations

¹ European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Genome Biology Unit, Heidelberg 69117, Germany.
² European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Genome Biology Unit, Heidelberg 69117, Germany. Electronic address: furlong@embl.de.

PMID: 28525737
DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2017.05.005

Abstract

Although H3K4me1 is a pervasive "mark" of enhancers, its functional requirement for enhancer activity remains unclear. In this issue of Molecular Cell, Dorighi et al. (2017) show that in some contexts, the methyltransferase complex, rather than the H3K4me1 mark, is required for gene expression.

Keywords: ESCs; H3K4me1; chromatin modifications; cis-regulatory elements; embryonic stem cells; enhancers; epigenetics; gene regulation; histone methyltransferases.

MeSH terms

Enhancer Elements, Genetic*
Histone Methyltransferases
Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase / genetics
Histones / genetics*
Humans
Methylation

Substances

Histones
Histone Methyltransferases
Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase