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hCAS/CSE1L associates with chromatin and regulates expression of select p53 target genes
Tomoaki Tanaka1, Shuichi Ohkubo, Ichiro Tatsuno
1Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Abstract:
The p53 tumor suppressor protein regulates many genes that can determine different cellular outcomes such as growth arrest or cell death. Promoter-selective transactivation by p53, although critical for the different cellular outcomes, is not well understood. We report here that the human cellular apoptosis susceptibility protein (hCAS/CSE1L) associates with a subset of p53 target promoters, including PIG3, in a p53-autonomous manner. Downregulation of hCAS/CSE1L decreases transcription from those p53 target promoters to which it preferentially binds and reduces apoptosis. In addition, hCAS/CSE1L silencing leads to increased methylation of histone H3 lysine 27 within the PIG3 gene. hCAS/CSE1L was previously shown to function as a nucleo-cytoplasmic transport factor, as does its closely related yeast homologue Cse1, which can also associate with chromatin and serve as a barrier protein that prevents spreading of heterochromatin. Thus, human CAS/CSE1L can bind select genes with significant functional consequences for p53-mediated transcription and determine cellular outcome.
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