SET domain containing 2 (SETD2) influences metabolism and alternative splicing during myogenesis

Epigenetic regulatory mechanisms are increasingly recognized as crucial determinants of cellular specification and differentiation. During muscle cell differentiation (myogenesis), extensive remodelling of histone acetylation and methylation occurs. Several of these histone modifications aid in the expression of muscle-specific genes and the silencing of genes that block lineage commitment. Therefore, the identification of new epigenetic regulatory mechanisms is of high interest. Still, the functional relevance of numerous histone modifications during myogenesis remain completely uncertain. In this study, we focus on the function of H3K36me3 and its epigenetic writer, SET domain containing 2 (SETD2), in the context of muscle cell differentiation. We first observed that SETD2 expression increases during myogenesis. Targeted depletion of SETD2 in undifferentiated (myoblasts) and differentiated (myotubes) muscle cells reduced H3K36me3 levels and induced profound changes in gene expression and slight alterations in alternative splicing, as determined by deep RNA-sequencing analysis. Enzymes that function in metabolic pathways were upregulated in response to SETD2 depletion. Furthermore, we demonstrated that upregulation of several glycolytic enzymes was associated with an increase in intracellular pyruvate levels in SETD2-depleted cells, indicating a novel role for SETD2 in metabolic programming during myogenesis. Together, our results provide new insight into the signalling pathways controlled by chromatin-modifying enzymes and their associated histone modifications during muscle cell differentiation.