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Cell cycle

Cycling through acetylation

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 11, page 755 (2010)Cite this article

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To identify the Smc3 deacetylase, Borges et al. and Beckouët et al. screened 11 S. cerevisiae strains, each of which had one of the 11 known deacetylase genes deleted, for acetylated Smc3. Increased levels of acetylated Smc3 were observed in extracts from Hos1-null cells under various conditions, including in G1-arrested cells (which do not normally have acetylated Smc3), indicating that Hos1 is the Smc3 deacetylase.

So, why is Smc3 deacetylation triggered at anaphase? At the onset of anaphase Scc1 is cleaved by separase, which releases cohesin from chromosomes to trigger chromosome segregation. Expression of a Scc1 variant that cannot be cleaved by separase prevents Smc3 deacetylation, whereas cells expressing a Scc1 variant that is cleaved when the tobacco etch virus protease is expressed undergo Smc3 deacetylation. These data suggest that Scc1 cleavage is necessary to trigger deacetylation. To confirm this in vitro Beckouët et al. reconstituted Smc3 deacetylation and found that it is effective in the presence of Hos1 and active separase. Borges et al. showed that Smc3 deacetylation also occurs in vitro in the presence of a nuclease that fragments chromosomal DNA but not cohesin. This suggests that the cohesin complex is protected from deacetylation when it is bound to chromosomes and that its dissociation from chromosomes at anaphase enables Smc3 deacetylation.

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Borges, V. et al. Hos1 deacetylates Smc3 to close the cohesin acetylation cycle. Mol. Cell 39, 677–688 (2010)

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  2. Beckouët, F. et al. An Smc3 acetylation cycle is essential for establishment of sister chromatid cohesion. Mol. Cell 39, 689–699 (2010)

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FURTHER READING

  1. Hirano, T. At the heart of the chromosome: SMC proteins in action. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 7, 311–322 (2006)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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Authors
  1. Katharine H. Wrighton
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Wrighton, K. Cycling through acetylation. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 11, 755 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm3002

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