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The micronuclear histone H3 clipping in the unicellular eukaryote Tetrahymena thermophila

Marine Life Science & Technology volume 4, pages 584–594 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Clipping of the histone H3 N-terminal tail has been implicated in multiple fundamental biological processes for a growing list of eukaryotes. H3 clipping, serving as an irreversible process to permanently remove some post-translational modifications (PTMs), may lead to noticeable changes in chromatin dynamics or gene expression. The eukaryotic model organism Tetrahymena thermophila is among the first few eukaryotes that exhibits H3 clipping activity, wherein the first six amino acids of H3 are cleaved off during vegetative growth. Clipping only occurs in the transcriptionally silent micronucleus of the binucleated T. thermophila, thus offering a unique opportunity to reveal the role of H3 clipping in epigenetic regulation. However, the physiological functions of the truncated H3 and its protease(s) for clipping remain elusive. Here, we review the major findings of H3 clipping in T. thermophila and highlight its association with histone modifications and cell cycle regulation. We also summarize the functions and mechanisms of H3 clipping in other eukaryotes, focusing on the high diversity in terms of protease families and cleavage sites. Finally, we predict several protease candidates in T. thermophila and provide insights for future studies.

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Data availability

Most datasets generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article (and its supplementary material), and the unpublished data in this article is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32125006, 32070437), China National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (BX2021277), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2021M690144), Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province of China (ZR2021QC046), and Postdoctoral Applied Research Project of Qingdao. We appreciate the computing resources provided on IEMB-1, a high-performance computing cluster operated by the Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity. We are grateful to Dr. Weibo Song (Ocean University of China, OUC) and Dr. Borong Lu (OUC) for their valuable inputs and suggestions to improve the manuscript.

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  1. Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Fan Wei, Bo Pan, Jinghan Diao, Yuanyuan Wang, Yalan Sheng & Shan Gao

  2. Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266237, China

    Fan Wei, Bo Pan, Jinghan Diao, Yuanyuan Wang & Shan Gao

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  1. Fan Wei
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FW and BP collected the data and wrote the paper. JHD revised the article. YYW, YLS and SG designed, directed and revised this review. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yuanyuan Wang or Yalan Sheng.

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Edited by Jiamei Li.

Special Topic: Ciliatology.

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Wei, F., Pan, B., Diao, J. et al. The micronuclear histone H3 clipping in the unicellular eukaryote Tetrahymena thermophila. Mar Life Sci Technol 4, 584–594 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42995-022-00151-0

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Keywords

  • Histone H3 tail
  • H3 clipping protease
  • Histone post-translational modifications (PTMs)
  • Cell development