A selective inhibitor and probe of the cellular functions of Jumonji C domain-containing histone demethylases.

Histone methylations are important chromatin marks that regulate gene expression, genomic stability, DNA repair, and genomic imprinting. Histone demethylases are the most recent family of histone-modifying enzymes discovered. Here, we report the characterization of a small-molecule inhibitor of Jumo...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Luo, X, Liu, Y, Kubicek, S, Myllyharju, J, Tumber, A, Ng, S, Che, K, Podoll, J, Heightman, T, Oppermann, U, Schreiber, S, Wang, X
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2011
Description
Summary:Histone methylations are important chromatin marks that regulate gene expression, genomic stability, DNA repair, and genomic imprinting. Histone demethylases are the most recent family of histone-modifying enzymes discovered. Here, we report the characterization of a small-molecule inhibitor of Jumonji C domain-containing histone demethylases. The inhibitor derives from a structure-based design and preferentially inhibits the subfamily of trimethyl lysine demethylases. Its methyl ester prodrug, methylstat, selectively inhibits Jumonji C domain-containing his-tone demethylases in cells and may be a useful small-molecule probe of chromatin and its role in epigenetics.