Hallison, Graham, Syrzycka, Monika, Beck, Samantha A., Kennison, James A., Dorsett, Dale, Page, Scott L., Hunter, Sally M., Keall, Rebecca M., Warren, William D., Brock, Hugh W., Sinclair, Donald A. R., and Honda, Barry M. (2008) The Drosophila cohesin subunit Rad21 is a trithorax group (trxG) protein. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105 (34). pp. 12405-12410.

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Abstract

The cohesin complex is a key player in regulating cell division. Cohesin proteins SMC1, SMC3, Rad21, and stromalin (SA), along with associated proteins Nipped-B, Pds5, and EcoI, maintain sister chromatid cohesion before segregation to daughter cells during anaphase. Recent chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) data reveal extensive overlap of Nipped-B and cohesin components with RNA polymerase II binding at active genes in Drosophila. These and other data strongly suggest a role for cohesion in transcription; however, there is no clear evidence for any specific mechanisms by which cohesin and associated proteins regulate transcription. We report here a link between cohesin components and trithorax group (trxG) function, thus implicating these proteins in transcription activation and/or elongation. We show that the Drosophila Rad21 protein is encoded by verthandi (vtd), a member of the trxG gene family that is also involved in regulating the hedgehog (hh) gene. In addition, mutations in the associated protein Nipped-B show similar trxG activity i.e., like vtd, they act as dominant suppressors of Pc and hhMrt without impairing cell division. Our results provide a framework to further investigate how cohesin and associated components might regulate transcription.

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