Mitotic chromatin condensation is essential for cell division in eukaryotes. Posttranslational modification of the N-terminal tail of histone proteins, particularly by phosphorylation by mitotic histone kinases, may facilitate this process. In mammals, aurora B is believed to be the mitotic histone H3 Ser10 kinase; however, it is not sufficient to phosphorylate H3 Ser10 with aurora B alone. We show that histone H3 is phosphorylated by vaccinia-related kinase 1 (VRK1). Direct phosphorylation of Thr3 and Ser10 in H3 by VRK1 both in vitro and in vivo was observed. Loss of VRK1 activity was associated with a marked decrease in H3 phosphorylation during mitosis. Phosphorylation of Ser10 by VRK1 is similar to that by aurora B. Moreover, expression and chromatin localization of VRK1 depended on the cell cycle phase. Overexpression of VRK1 resulted in a dramatic condensation of nuclei. Our findings collectively support a role of VRK1 as a novel mitotic histone H3 kinase in mammals.Chromatin congregates to chromosomes during mitosis to facilitate the even segregation of genetic information to two daughter cells. In nucleosomes, the combinational modification of histone tails, the so-called "histone code," controls chromatintemplated processes from gene expression to cell fate decision (20,30). Phosphorylation of the N-terminal tail of histone H3 may be responsible for chromatin condensation (21). During mitosis, the N-terminal tail of histone H3 is phosphorylated at several residues, including Thr3 (5, 36), Ser10 (3,7,17,18), Thr11 (37), and Ser28 (12). A correlation between histone H3 Ser10 phosphorylation and chromatin condensation in Aspergillus nidulans (6) and Tetrahymena thermophila (47) is well established. However, in other species, condensation is not accomplished simply by Ser10 phosphorylation, and additional phosphorylation or modification of histone tails is required (21).A number of studies have shown that members of the aurora kinase family are responsible for phosphorylation of histone H3 (3,7,17,18). Mammals contain three isotypes of aurora kinase designated aurora A, B, and C (11). Among these, aurora B is a strong candidate phosphorylator of Ser10 in histone H3 as is evident from data obtained with hesperadin, the aurora B inhibitor (14), which suppressed Ser10 phosphorylation during mitosis (7, 17). However, residual Ser10 phosphorylation was detected, even upon depletion of aurora B in cells, suggesting the presence of an additional histone H3 kinase (29).NIMA (never in mitosis), the histone H3 Ser10 kinase in Aspergillus nidulans (6, 34), triggers chromatin condensation in cells arrested at the interphase (28). In mammals, Nercc1, the functional ortholog of NIMA, was found to be phosphorylating histone H3 (39). Nucleosomal histone kinase 1 (NHK1) from Drosophila melanogaster is the kinase shown to phosphorylate histone protein in chromatin as a substrate. NHK1 phosphorylated H2A at Thr119 in chromatin but not with free histone as the substrate (1). Recent studies showed that NHK1 participates in mit...

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For over a half-century the anti-malarial drug chloroquine (CQ) has been used as a therapeutic agent, alone or in combination, to treat autoimmune diseases. However, neither the underlying mechanism(s) of action nor their molecular target(s) are well defined. The orphan nuclear receptor Nurr1 (also known as NR4A2) is an essential transcription factor affecting the development and maintenance of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. In this study, using in vitro T cell differentiation models, we demonstrate that CQ activates TREG cell differentiation and induces Foxp3 gene expression in a Nurr1-dependent manner. Remarkably, CQ appears to induce Nurr1 function by two distinct mechanisms: firstly, by direct binding to Nurr1’s ligand-binding domain and promoting its transcriptional activity and secondly by upregulation of Nurr1 expression through the CREB signaling pathway. In contrast, CQ suppressed gene expression and differentiation of pathogenic TH17 cells. Importantly, using a valid animal model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), we demonstrated that CQ promotes Foxp3 expression and differentiation of TREG cells in a Nurr1-dependent manner, leading to significant improvement of IBD-related symptoms. Taken together, these data suggest that CQ ameliorates autoimmune diseases via regulating Nurr1 function/expression and that Nurr1 is a promising target for developing effective therapeutics of human inflammatory autoimmune diseases.

Background:Interactions between p53 and Bcl-2 family proteins serve a critical role in transcription-independent p53 apoptosis. Results:We studied the interactions of p53TAD2 with anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins at the atomic level by NMR, mutagenesis, and structure calculation. Conclusion: Bcl-X L /Bcl-2, MDM2, and CBP/p300 share similar modes of binding to the dual p53TAD motifs. Significance: Dual-site interaction of p53TAD is a highly conserved mechanism in the transcription-dependent and transcription-independent p53 apoptotic pathways.