Epigenetics and chromatin

remodelling
 Interesting questions

• How can a single individual have two different eye colours?

• How can identical twin litter mates show different coat

colours?

• How can just paternal or maternal traits be expressed in

offsprings? This is called genetic imprinting.

• How can females express only one X-chromosome per cell?

 Identical twins are genetically similar but
epigenetically different
• Older twin pairs are more epigenetically different
than younger twins. 50-year olds are 4 times
more different than 3-year olds.

• Twins who spend less time together during their

lives, or who have different medical histories,
have the greatest epigenetic differences.
 What is epigenetics?
• Term was coined by C.H. Waddington to explain
differentiation.

• Epigenetics is the study of reversible heritable changes in

gene function that occur without a change in the sequence
of nuclear DNA.

• The transmission of non-DNA sequence information through

either meiosis or mitosis, is known as epigenetic inheritance.

• If you liken the genome to the hardware of a computer, then

"epigenetics” is the software.
 Epigenetics- terminologies
• Epiallele: A gene that differs in the level of methylation.
– Two alleles may have identical nucleotide sequences but may vary in
the methylation levels.

• Epigenome: all the chemical changes (addition of methyl

groups and other epigenetic markers) to the DNA and histone
proteins of an organism.

• Epigenomics- global analyses of epigenetic changes across the entire

genome

Epigenome provides instructions and regulates the functional

aspects of all the genes in an organism!!!
The epigenome
Why epigenetic inheritance?
• Epigenetic inheritance provides a "rapid mechanism by which
an organism can respond to the environment without having
to change its genetic makeup."

• Epigenetics work at the level of transcription (transcriptional

silencing).

• Epigenetic inheritance is the basis of evolution of multicellular

organisms.
Mechanism of epigenetic inheritance

1. Cytosine DNA methylation – Transcription

can be silenced by methylation of DNA by
enzymes called DNA methyltransferases.

– DNA methylation covalently modifies the cytosine

of DNA into 5-methyl cytosines providing a stable
epigenetic mark, which can be inherited
• can inhibit binding of proteins, including the
transcriptional machinery, thus blocking gene
expression.

– Some DNA sequences are recognized only when

methylated by specific repressors that then switch off
nearby genes
Mechanism of epigenetic inheritance

2. Histone modifications - Chromatin remodelling though methyl and acetyl,

modifications of histones are another important source of epigenetic regulation.

These changes can be inherited just like genetic changes.

DNA Methylation & Histone Modifications
Form the Epigenetic Code
Epigenetic imprinting establishes cell identity

• Epigenetic imprinting : The molecular interplay between the

DNA sequence and the chromatin protein that establishes cell
identity.
– DNA methylation
– Chromatin remodelling
– Heritable
 Epigenetic imprinting: Epigenetic memory and epigenetic inheritance

Epigenetic memory:
The inheritance of epigenetic imprints from one cell to another cell through
mitosis.

• Epigenetic memory ensures that liver cells only produce liver cells and
brain cells only produce brain cells.

• In other words, epigenetic switching (de novo deposition of epigenetic

imprints) and epigenetic memory (maintenance of epigenetic
imprints) are responsible for cell identity in multicellular organisms.

Epigenetic inheritance:
The inheritance of epigenetic marks from one generation to the next through
meiosis.
 Epigenetic imprinting- DNA Methylation
•In a diploid cell, there are two copies of most genes- one copy from the
mother and one from the father.

•Usually both alleles of each gene are expressed at comparable levels.

•However, there are cases when one allele is expressed and the other is
silenced.

•An example includes the human H19 and the insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2),
located close to each other on chromosome-11.

•H19 is only expressed from the maternal chromosome.

•Igf2 is only expressed from the paternal chromosome.

 Epigenetic imprinting- DNA Methylation
•Two regulatory sequences are critical for the differential expression of these two genes
–An enhancer (downstream of H19 gene) and
–An insulator (imprinting control region- ICR) located between H19 and (Igf2) genes.

•The enhancer can activate either gene.

•However, enhancer cannot activate Igf2 in the maternal chromosome because ICR binds
to a protein, CTCF, which blocks activators at the enhancer from activating the Igf2
gene.

•On the paternal chromosome, the ICR element and the H19 promoter are methylated
and therefore cannot be transcribed. CTCF also cannot bind to ICR thus activating Igf2
gene.

•On the paternal chromosome, H19 is further repressed by the binding of the protein,
MeCP2, to the methylated ICR. This recruits deacetlyases that repress the H19
promoter.
Epigenetic imprinting of H19 & Igf2 Loci (male/
female)
Unequal expression of maternal and paternal alleles of a gene.
These genes are involved in some cancers.

Igf2 is only expressed in the paternal chromosome whereas H19 is

only expressed in the maternal chromosome.
 Epigenetic imprinting- Chromatin remodeling
•Experiments have shown that transcribed DNA is more susceptible to nuclease
(enzymes that digest DNA) attack than non-transcribed DNA

•In transcribed DNA (euchromatin), the nucleosomes are altered by multiprotein

complexes that allow RNA polymerase to transcribe the genes.

•The alteration of nucleosomes in preparation for transcription is called

chromatin remodeling.

•Two types of chromatin remodeling complexes exist.

•One is composed of enzymes that transfer acetyl groups to the amino acid lysine at
specific positions in the histones of the nucleosomes.

–These enzymes are called histone acetyl transferases (HATs).

–Acetylation of histones OPEN the DNA and increases gene expression.

 Epigenetic imprinting- Chromatin remodeling

•The other type of chromatin remodeling complex disrupts

nucleosome structure in the vicinity of a gene’s promoter.

•Examples are SWI/SNF complex found in baker’s yeast.

–SWI = switching-inhibited mutation
–SNF = sucrose nonfermenter mutation

•SWI/SNF regulates transcription by sliding histone octamers along

the associated DNA in nucleosomes.

•This nucleosome shifting gives transcription factors access to the

DNA, thus stimulating gene expression (OPEN state).
Transcriptionally active chromatin
regions are hyperacetylated and
hypomethylated.

If a region of DNA or a gene is destined for

silencing, chromatin remodeling enzymes
such as histone deacetylases (HDACs)
remove acetyl groups from the histone
tails.

The histone tails are methylated by

histone methyl transferases (HMTs).

The region of DNA will then be CLOSED

and heritably maintained in an inactive
state.
Mechanism of inheritance of epigenetic marks
- DNA methylation marks

• DNA methylation is faithfully transmitted from cell to

cell through mitosis and from generation to
generation via meiosis.

• DNA replication is semi-conservative. When a

methylated DNA sequence replicates, only one strand
of the new double helix has all its methyl markers
intact; the other strand needs to be remethylated.

• DNA methyl transferases (DNMTs) methylate the

newly formed DNA strand based on the methylation
template of the old strand. This is known as the
maintenance methylase theory.
Establishment and Maintenance of Cytosine
Methylation
Some DNA Methylation are essential

Telomeres are highly methylated.

Epigenetic imprinting- DNA methylation of CpG
islands
• CpG island is a short stretch of DNA in which the
frequency of the CG sequence is higher than other
regions.

• CpG islands are often located around the promoters

of housekeeping genes or other genes frequently
expressed in a cell.

• At these locations, the CG sequence is NOT

methylated. By contrast, the CG sequences in inactive
genes are usually methylated to suppress their
expression.
Chromatin modeling – Epigenetic switches
Stem cells are cells free of epigenetic imprints and
are hence totipotent.

Epigenetic switches that affect homeotic genes create

cell lineages with different identities, which lead to
the formation of tissues and organs.
Suppression of HDACs in plants

• When HDAC (histone deacetylase) is suppressed in

plants, silent genes in the epigenome are expressed:

• early senescence (aging)

• homeotic changes
• suppression of apical dominance
• flower defects and sterility.

• This is an example of pleiotropy, where one gene has

many phenotypic effects.
 X-chromosome Inactivation: CpG Island Methylation

Females express ONLY one X-chromosome.

De novo methylation of CpG islands in the inactive X-chromosome

in females

Inactive X-chromosome has inactive chromatin and unacetylated

histone H4.
 Chromatin modeling –
Epigenetic switching- plants vs. animals
In animals:
• All epigenetic switches are established early in development.
• Cell identity is not reversible. Once cell identity is established by

epigenetic switches the cells lose totipotency.

In plants:
• Epigenetic switches occur not only during embryogenesis but
also during the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth.
• They also maintain totipotency at later stages. Any cell can
dedifferentiate (lose its imprints) to become totipotent.

Hence tissue culturing plants to produce clones is easy.

Cloning animals is difficult and is plagued with numerous problems.
Environment (diet) can Influence Epigenetic Changes
 Diet epigenetic imprint
• German’s blocked food to the Dutch in the winter of 1944.

• Calorie consumption by the Dutch dropped from 2000 to

500 per day for 4.5 million people.

• Children born or raised in this time were small, short in

stature and had many diseases including edema, anemia,
diabetes and depression.

• Studies show that women living during that time had

children 20-30 years later with the same problems despite
being conceived and born during a normal dietary state.
 Summary of epigenetics
• Patterns of DNA methylation in adult cells parallels cell fate,
chromatin structure and gene activation.

• Most DNA methylation is removed at fertilization and re-

established during embryogenesis.

• Imprinted genes keep their parental pattern of methylation

giving rise to parental patterns of expression.

• Patterns of histone modifications parallel DNA methylation.

• Methylated gene regions are genetically inactive, highly

condensed and especially due to histone modifications.
 Summary of epigenetics
• Active gene regions have little DNA methylation and
distinctive histone modifications (e.g. acetylation of
lysine-16 of H4).

• X-chromosome inactivation in females = extensive CpG

island methylation on one chromosome.

• Alterations in gene and CpG island methylation patterns

are seen in aging.