A Tail-Based Mechanism Drives Nucleosome Demethylation by the LSD2/NPAC Multimeric Complex.
Marabelli, C., Marrocco, B., Pilotto, S., Chittori, S., Picaud, S., Marchese, S., Ciossani, G., Forneris, F., Filippakopoulos, P., Schoehn, G., Rhodes, D., Subramaniam, S., Mattevi, A.(2019) Cell Rep 27: 387-399.e7
- PubMed: 30970244 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.03.061
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
6R1T, 6R1U, 6R25 - PubMed Abstract: 
LSD1 and LSD2 are homologous histone demethylases with opposite biological outcomes related to chromatin silencing and transcription elongation, respectively. Unlike LSD1, LSD2 nucleosome-demethylase activity relies on a specific linker peptide from the multidomain protein NPAC. We used single-particle cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM), in combination with kinetic and mutational analysis, to analyze the mechanisms underlying the function of the human LSD2/NPAC-linker/nucleosome complex. Weak interactions between LSD2 and DNA enable multiple binding modes for the association of the demethylase to the nucleosome. The demethylase thereby captures mono- and dimethyl Lys4 of the H3 tail to afford histone demethylation. Our studies also establish that the dehydrogenase domain of NPAC serves as a catalytically inert oligomerization module. While LSD1/CoREST forms a nucleosome docking platform at silenced gene promoters, LSD2/NPAC is a multifunctional enzyme complex with flexible linkers, tailored for rapid chromatin modification, in conjunction with the advance of the RNA polymerase on actively transcribed genes.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Lazzaro Spallanzani," University of Pavia, via Ferrata 9, 27100 Pavia, Italy.