06/11/2013
Transcription Recovery after DNA Damage Requires Chromatin Priming by the H3.3 Histone Chaperone HIRA
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867413010234
A cell paper published by S. Adam, S.E. Polo and G. Almouzni in 2013 (Cell 155, 94–106. Doi :10.1016/j.cell.2013.08.029)
How transcription restarts in chromatin regions that have been silenced in response to DNA damage remains poorly understood. Here, they show in human cells that the histone chaperone HIRA deposits newly synthesized H3.3 histones at sites of UVC irradiation in a manner coupled to early ubiquitylation events associated with DNA damage detection. This early and transient function of HIRA is required for transcription reactivation once repair is complete and thus, they propose that HIRA-mediated histone deposition can act as a chromatin bookmarking system for transcription recovery after genotoxic stress.
S. Adam, S.E. Polo and G. Almouzni (Cell, 2013, 155, 94–106. Doi :10.1016/j.cell.2013.08.029)