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Human SFMBT is a transcriptional repressor protein that selectively binds the N‐terminal tail of histone H3
Author(s) -
Wu Shumin,
Trievel Raymond C.,
Rice Judd C.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2007.06.025
Subject(s) - histone h3 , chromatin , repressor , histone , psychological repression , yy1 , transcriptional activity , tandem repeat , microbiology and biotechnology , transcriptional regulation , chemistry , biology , dna , biochemistry , transcription factor , gene , promoter , gene expression , genome
Human SFMBT (hSFMBT) is postulated to be a Polycomb (PcG) protein. Similar to other PcG proteins, we found that hSFMBT displays robust transcriptional repressor activity. In addition, hSFMBT localized to the nucleus where it strongly associates with chromatin by directly and selectively binding the N‐terminal tail of histone H3. Importantly, we discovered that the four tandem MBT repeats of hSFMBT were sufficient for nuclear matrix‐association, N‐terminal tail H3 binding, and required for transcriptional repression. These findings indicate that the tandem MBT repeats form a functional structure required for biological activity of hSFMBT and predict similar properties for other MBT domain‐containing proteins.