Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
SpringerLink
Log in

PCAF Lysine Acetyltransferase

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules

  • 142 Accesses

Synonyms

K-acetyltransferase 2B (KAT2B); Lysine acetyltransferase 2B; P/CAF; pCAF; PCAF (p300/CBP-associated factor)

Historical Background: Identification of PCAF as an Acetyltransferase

Human PCAF was identified in the mid-1990s based on an analogy between yeast and mammalian transcriptional control systems (Yang et al. 1996). In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, amino acid starvation results in derepression of expression of enzymes for different biosynthetic pathways. This phenomenon suggests co-regulation of different pathways and is thus referred to as “general control of amino acid biosynthesis” (Hinnebusch and Fink 1983; Thireos et al. 1984). Genetic screens in the late 1970s and early 1980s uncovered various mutant strains with defects in the gene control response (Hinnebusch and Fink 1983). Responsible genes of two such mutant strains were named Gcn4 (general control non-derepressible 4, also referred to as amino acid analog-sensitive 3, Aas3 or Aas101) and Gcn5...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Arany Z, Sellers WR, Livingston DM, Eckner R. E1A-associated p300 and CREB-associated CBP belong to a conserved family of coactivators. Cell. 1994;77:799–800.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baker SP, Grant PA. The SAGA continues: expanding the cellular role of a transcriptional co-activator complex. Oncogene. 2007;26:5329–40.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barlev NA, Emelyanov AV, Castagnino P, Zegerman P, Bannister AJ, Sepulveda MA, Robert F, Tora L, Kouzarides T, Birshtein BK, et al. A novel human Ada2 homologue functions with Gcn5 or Brg1 to coactivate transcription. Mol Cell Biol. 2003;23:6944–57.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brownell JE, Zhou J, Ranalli T, Kobayashi R, Edmondson DG, Roth SY, Allis CD. Tetrahymena histone acetyltransferase A: a homolog to yeast Gcn5p linking histone acetylation to gene activation. Cell. 1996;84:843–51.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • de la Cruz X, Lois S, Sanchez-Molina S, Martinez-Balbas MA. Do protein motifs read the histone code? Bioessays. 2005;27:164–75.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dhalluin C, Carlson JE, Zeng L, He C, Aggarwal AK, Zhou MM. Structure and ligand of a histone acetyltransferase bromodomain. Nature. 1999;399:491–6.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Georgakopoulos T, Thireos G. Two distinct yeast transcriptional activators require the function of the GCN5 protein to promote normal levels of transcription. EMBO J. 1992;11:4145–52.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grant PA, Duggan L, Cote J, Roberts SM, Brownell JE, Candau R, Ohba R, Owen-Hughes T, Allis CD, Winston F, et al. Yeast Gcn5 functions in two multisubunit complexes to acetylate nucleosomal histones: characterization of an Ada complex and the SAGA (Spt/Ada) complex. Genes Dev. 1997;11:1640–50.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haynes SR, Dollard C, Winston F, Beck S, Trowsdale J, Dawid IB. The bromodomain: a conserved sequence found in human, Drosophila and yeast proteins. Nucleic Acids Res. 1992;20:2603.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hinnebusch AG. Evidence for translational regulation of the activator of general amino acid control in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1984;81:6442–6.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hinnebusch AG, Fink GR. Positive regulation in the general amino acid control of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1983;80:5374–8.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lin W, Dent SY. Functions of histone-modifying enzymes in development. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2006;16:137–42.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marcus GA, Silverman N, Berger SL, Horiuchi J, Guarente L. Functional similarity and physical association between GCN5 and ADA2: putative transcriptional adaptors. EMBO J. 1994;13:4807–15.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maurice T, Duclot F, Meunier J, Naert G, Givalois L, Meffre J, Celerier A, Jacquet C, Copois V, Mechti N, et al. Altered memory capacities and response to stress in p300/CBP-associated factor (PCAF) histone acetylase knockout mice. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2008;33:1584–602.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McMahon SB, Van Buskirk HA, Dugan KA, Copeland TD, Cole MD. The novel ATM-related protein TRRAP is an essential cofactor for the c-Myc and E2F oncoproteins. Cell. 1998;94:363–74.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nagy Z, Tora L. Distinct GCN5/PCAF-containing complexes function as co-activators and are involved in transcription factor and global histone acetylation. Oncogene. 2007;26:5341–57.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ogryzko VV, Kotani T, Zhang X, Schiltz RL, Howard T, Yang XJ, Howard BH, Qin J, Nakatani Y. Histone-like TAFs within the PCAF histone acetylase complex. Cell. 1998;94:35–44.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pankotai T, Komonyi O, Bodai L, Ujfaludi Z, Muratoglu S, Ciurciu A, Tora L, Szabad J, Boros I. The homologous Drosophila transcriptional adaptors ADA2a and ADA2b are both required for normal development but have different functions. Mol Cell Biol. 2005;25:8215–27.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roth SY, Denu JM, Allis CD. Histone acetyltransferases. Annu Rev Biochem. 2001;70:81–120.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Suganuma T, Gutierrez JL, Li B, Florens L, Swanson SK, Washburn MP, Abmayr SM, Workman JL. ATAC is a double histone acetyltransferase complex that stimulates nucleosome sliding. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2008;15:364–72.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Suganuma T, Mushegian A, Swanson SK, Abmayr SM, Florens L, Washburn MP, Workman JL. The ATAC acetyltransferase complex coordinates MAP kinases to regulate JNK target genes. Cell. 2010;142:726–36.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tamkun JW, Deuring R, Scott MP, Kissinger M, Pattatucci AM, Kaufman TC, Kennison JA. Brahma: a regulator of Drosophila homeotic genes structurally related to the yeast transcriptional activator SNF2/SWI2. Cell. 1992;68:561–72.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thireos G, Penn MD, Greer H. 5′ untranslated sequences are required for the translational control of a yeast regulatory gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1984;81:5096–100.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Mizzen C, Ying C, Candau R, Barlev N, Brownell J, Allis CD, Berger SL. Histone acetyltransferase activity is conserved between yeast and human GCN5 and is required for complementation of growth and transcriptional activation. Mol Cell Biol. 1997;17:519–27.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang XJ, Ogryzko VV, Nishikawa J, Howard BH, Nakatani Y. A p300/CBP-associated factor that competes with the adenoviral oncoprotein E1A. Nature. 1996;382:319–24.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by operating grants from CIHR and Canadian Cancer Society (to X.J.Y.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Research Center, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, H3A 1A3, Canada

    Linya You & Dr. Xiang-Jiao Yang

  2. Departments of Biochemistry and Anatomy & Medicine, McGill University Health Center, Montréal, Québec, H3A 1A3, Canada

    Dr. Xiang-Jiao Yang

  3. Departments of Medicine, McGill University Health Center, Montréal, Québec, H3A 1A3, Canada

    Linya You & Dr. Xiang-Jiao Yang

Authors
  1. Linya You
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dr. Xiang-Jiao Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiang-Jiao Yang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Science and Technology, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea

    Sangdun Choi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this entry

Cite this entry

You, L., Yang, XJ. (2012). PCAF Lysine Acetyltransferase. In: Choi, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0461-4_511

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation