Nature Communications (Nov 2020)

Phase separation by the polyhomeotic sterile alpha motif compartmentalizes Polycomb Group proteins and enhances their activity

  • Elias Seif,
  • Jin Joo Kang,
  • Charles Sasseville,
  • Olga Senkovich,
  • Alexander Kaltashov,
  • Elodie L. Boulier,
  • Ibani Kapur,
  • Chongwoo A. Kim,
  • Nicole J. Francis

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19435-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 19

Abstract

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The conserved SAM motif of Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 subunit Ph has been shown to play an important role in chromatin organization. Here, the authors study the effect of Ph SAM on chromatin in vitro, showing that it induces the formation of concentrated, phase-separated condensates, which enhance the ubiquitin ligase activity of PRC1.