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hnRNPK Recruits PCGF3/5-PRC1 to the Xist RNA B-Repeat to Establish Polycomb-Mediated Chromosomal Silencing. 2017

Greta Pintacuda, and Guifeng Wei, and Chloë Roustan, and Burcu Anil Kirmizitas, and Nicolae Solcan, and Andrea Cerase, and Alfredo Castello, and Shabaz Mohammed, and Benoît Moindrot, and Tatyana B Nesterova, and Neil Brockdorff

Developmental Epigenetics, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.

The Polycomb-repressive complexes PRC1 and PRC2 play a key role in chromosome silencing induced by the non-coding RNA Xist. Polycomb recruitment is initiated by the PCGF3/5-PRC1 complex, which catalyzes chromosome-wide H2A lysine 119 ubiquitylation, signaling recruitment of other PRC1 complexes, and PRC2. However, the molecular mechanism for PCGF3/5-PRC1 recruitment by Xist RNA is not understood. Here we define the Xist RNA Polycomb Interaction Domain (XR-PID), a 600 nt sequence encompassing the Xist B-repeat element. Deletion of XR-PID abolishes Xist-dependent Polycomb recruitment, in turn abrogating Xist-mediated gene silencing and reversing Xist-induced chromatin inaccessibility. We identify the RNA-binding protein hnRNPK as the principal XR-PID binding factor required to recruit PCGF3/5-PRC1. Accordingly, synthetically tethering hnRNPK to Xist RNA lacking XR-PID is sufficient for Xist-dependent Polycomb recruitment. Our findings define a key pathway for Polycomb recruitment by Xist RNA, providing important insights into mechanisms of chromatin modification by non-coding RNA.