The plasticity of WDR5 peptide-binding cleft enables the binding of the SET1 family of histone methyltransferases
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
Authors: Zhang, Pamela; Lee, Hwabin; Brunzelle, Joseph S.; Couture, Jean-Francois
Abstract
In mammals, the SET1 family of lysine methyltransferases (KMTs), which includes MLL1-5, SET1A and SET1B, catalyzes the methylation of lysine-4 (Lys-4) on histone H3. Recent reports have demonstrated that a three-subunit complex composed of WD-repeat protein-5 (WDR5), retinoblastoma-binding protein-5 (RbBP5) and absent, small, homeotic disks-2-like (ASH2L) stimulates the methyltransferase activity of MLL1. On the basis of studies showing that this stimulation is in part controlled by an interaction between WDR5 and a small region located in close proximity of the MLL1 catalytic domain [referred to as the WDR5-interacting motif (Win)], it has been suggested that WDR5 might play an analogous role in scaffolding the other SET1 complexes. We herein provide biochemical and structural evidence showing that WDR5 binds the Win motifs of MLL2-4, SET1A and SET1B. Comparative analysis of WDR5-Win complexes reveals that binding of the Win motifs is achieved by the plasticity of WDR5 peptidyl-arginine-binding cleft allowing the C-terminal ends of the Win motifs to be maintained in structurally divergent conformations. Consistently, enzymatic assays reveal that WDR5 plays an important role in the optimal stimulation of MLL2-4, SET1A and SET1B methyltransferase activity by the RbBP5-ASH2L heterodimer. Overall, our findings illustrate the function of WDR5 in scaffolding the SET1 family of KMTs and further emphasize on the important role of WDR5 in regulating global histone H3 Lys-4 methylation.
A Non-Active-Site SET Domain Surface Crucial for the Interaction of MLL1 and the RbBP5/Ash2L Heterodimer within MLL Family Core Complexes
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Authors: Shinsky, Stephen A.; Hu, Michael; Vought, Valarie E.; Ng, Sarah B.; Bamshad, Michael J.; Shendure, Jay; Cosgrove, Michael S.
Abstract
The mixed lineage leukemia-1 (MLL1) enzyme is a histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) monomethyltransferase and has served as a paradigm for understanding the mechanism of action of the human SET1 family of enzymes that include MLL1-MLL4 and SETd1a,b. Dimethylation of H3K4 requires a sub-complex including WRAD (VVDR5, RbBP5, Ash2L, and DPY-30), which binds to each SET1 family member forming a minimal core complex that is required for multiple lysine methylation. We recently demonstrated that WRAD is a novel histone methyltransferase that preferentially catalyzes H3K4 dimethylation in a manner that is dependent on an unknown non-active-site surface from the MLL1 SET domain. Recent genome sequencing studies have identified a number of human disease-associated nnissense mutations that localize to the SET domains of several MLL family members. In this investigation, we mapped many of these mutations onto the three-dimensional structure of the SET domain and noticed that a subset of MLL2 (KMT2D, ALR, MLL4)-associated Kabuki syndrome missense mutations map to a common solvent-exposed surface that is not expected to alter enzymatic activity. We introduced these mutations into the MLL1 SET domain and observed that all are defective for H3K4 dimethylation by the MLL1 core complex, which is associated with a loss of the ability of MLL1 to interact with WRAD or with the RbBP5/Ash2L heterodimer. Our results suggest that amino acids from this surface, which we term the Kabuki interaction surface or KIS, are required for formation of a second active site within SET1 family core complexes. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.