Previous Article | Next Article 
Molecular and Cellular Biology, August 2001, p. 5169-5178, Vol. 21, No. 15
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.15.5169-5178.2001
Mitotic Phosphorylation Prevents the Binding of
HMGN Proteins to Chromatin
Marta
Prymakowska-Bosak,1,*
Tom
Misteli,2
Julio E.
Herrera,1,
Hitoshi
Shirakawa,1
Yehudit
Birger,1
Susan
Garfield,3 and
Michael
Bustin1
Protein Section, Laboratory of
Metabolism,1 Cell Biology and Gene
Expression Group, Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene
Expression,2 and Laboratory of
Experimental Carcinognesis,3 DBS, National
Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
20892
Received 23 February 2001/Returned for modification 4 April
2001/Accepted 26 April 2001
Condensation of the chromatin fiber and transcriptional inhibition
during mitosis is associated with the redistribution of many DNA- and
chromatin-binding proteins, including members of the
high-mobility-group N (HMGN) family. Here we study the mechanism governing the organization of HMGN proteins in mitosis. Using site-specific antibodies and quantitative gel analysis with proteins extracted from synchronized HeLa cells, we demonstrate that, during mitosis, the conserved serine residues in the nucleosomal binding domain (NBD) of this protein family are highly and specifically phosphorylated. Nucleosome mobility shift assays with both in vitro-phosphorylated proteins and with point mutants bearing negative charges in the NBD demonstrate that the negative charge abolishes the
ability of the proteins to bind to nucleosomes. Fluorescence loss of
photobleaching demonstrates that, in living cells, the negative charge
in the NBD increases the intranuclear mobility of the protein and
significantly decreases the relative time that it is bound to
chromatin. Expression of wild-type and mutant proteins in
HmgN1
/
cells indicates that the negatively
charged protein is not bound to chromosomes. We conclude that during
mitosis the NBD of HMGN proteins is highly phosphorylated and that this
modification regulates the interaction of the proteins with chromatin.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Protein Section,
DBS, NCI, NIH, Bldg. 37, Rm 3D-12, Bethesda, MD 20892. Phone: (301) 496-2885. Fax: (301) 496-8419. E-mail:
bosakm{at}pop.nci.nih.gov.

Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and
Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
55455.
Molecular and Cellular Biology, August 2001, p. 5169-5178, Vol. 21, No. 15
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.15.5169-5178.2001
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Ueda, T., Catez, F., Gerlitz, G., Bustin, M.
(2008). Delineation of the Protein Module That Anchors HMGN Proteins to Nucleosomes in the Chromatin of Living Cells. Mol. Cell. Biol.
28: 2872-2883
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Cherukuri, S., Hock, R., Ueda, T., Catez, F., Rochman, M., Bustin, M.
(2008). Cell Cycle-dependent Binding of HMGN Proteins to Chromatin. Mol. Biol. Cell
19: 1816-1824
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Zhu, N., Hansen, U.
(2007). HMGN1 Modulates Estrogen-Mediated Transcriptional Activation through Interactions with Specific DNA-Binding Transcription Factors. Mol. Cell. Biol.
27: 8859-8873
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Burkhart, B. A., Kennett, S. B., Archer, T. K.
(2007). Osmotic Stress-dependent Repression Is Mediated by Histone H3 Phosphorylation and Chromatin Structure. J. Biol. Chem.
282: 4400-4407
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Furusawa, T., Lim, J.-H., Catez, F., Birger, Y., Mackem, S., Bustin, M.
(2006). Down-Regulation of Nucleosomal Binding Protein HMGN1 Expression during Embryogenesis Modulates Sox9 Expression in Chondrocytes. Mol. Cell. Biol.
26: 592-604
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Phair, R. D., Scaffidi, P., Elbi, C., Vecerova, J., Dey, A., Ozato, K., Brown, D. T., Hager, G., Bustin, M., Misteli, T.
(2004). Global Nature of Dynamic Protein-Chromatin Interactions In Vivo: Three-Dimensional Genome Scanning and Dynamic Interaction Networks of Chromatin Proteins. Mol. Cell. Biol.
24: 6393-6402
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Catez, F., Yang, H., Tracey, K. J., Reeves, R., Misteli, T., Bustin, M.
(2004). Network of Dynamic Interactions between Histone H1 and High-Mobility-Group Proteins in Chromatin. Mol. Cell. Biol.
24: 4321-4328
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Nuthall, H. N., Joachim, K., Palaparti, A., Stifani, S.
(2002). A Role for Cell Cycle-regulated Phosphorylation in Groucho-mediated Transcriptional Repression. J. Biol. Chem.
277: 51049-51057
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Prymakowska-Bosak, M., Hock, R., Catez, F., Lim, J.-H., Birger, Y., Shirakawa, H., Lee, K., Bustin, M.
(2002). Mitotic Phosphorylation of Chromosomal Protein HMGN1 Inhibits Nuclear Import and Promotes Interaction with 14.3.3 Proteins. Mol. Cell. Biol.
22: 6809-6819
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Dou, Y., Bowen, J., Liu, Y., Gorovsky, M. A.
(2002). Phosphorylation and an ATP-dependent process increase the dynamic exchange of H1 in chromatin. JCB
158: 1161-1170
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Lim, J.-H., Bustin, M., Ogryzko, V. V., Postnikov, Y. V.
(2002). Metastable Macromolecular Complexes Containing High Mobility Group Nucleosome-binding Chromosomal Proteins in HeLa Nuclei. J. Biol. Chem.
277: 20774-20782
[Abstract]
[Full Text]