| First Author | Peters AH | Year | 2001 |
| Journal | Cell | Volume | 107 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 323-37 |
| PubMed ID | 11701123 | Mgi Jnum | J:72503 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:2153154 | Doi | 10.1016/s0092-8674(01)00542-6 |
| Citation | Peters AH, et al. (2001) Loss of the suv39h histone methyltransferases impairs Mammalian heterochromatin and genome stability. Cell 107(3):323-37 |
| abstractText | Histone H3 lysine 9 methylation has been proposed to provide a major 'switch' for the functional organization of chromosomal subdomains. Here, we show that the murine Suv39h histone methyltransferases (HMTases) govern H3-K9 methylation at pericentric heterochromatin and induce a specialized histone methylation pattern that differs from the broad H3-K9 methylation present at other chromosomal regions. Suv39h-deficient mice display severely impaired viability and chromosomal instabilities that are associated with an increased tumor risk and perturbed chromosome interactions during male meiosis. These in vivo data assign a crucial role for pericentric H3-K9 methylation in protecting genome stability, and define the Suv39h HMTases as important epigenetic regulators for mammalian development. |
