Structural Basis for Corest-Dependent Demethylation of Nucleosomes by the Human Lsd1 Histone Demethylase
Yang, M., Gocke, C.B., Luo, X., Borek, D., Tomchick, D.R., Machius, M., Otwinowski, Z., Yu, H.(2006) Mol Cell 23: 377
- PubMed: 16885027 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2006.07.012
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
2IW5 - PubMed Abstract: 
Histone methylation regulates diverse chromatin-templated processes, including transcription. Many transcriptional corepressor complexes contain lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) and CoREST that collaborate to demethylate mono- and dimethylated H3-K4 of nucleosomes. Here, we report the crystal structure of the LSD1-CoREST complex. LSD1-CoREST forms an elongated structure with a long stalk connecting the catalytic domain of LSD1 and the CoREST SANT2 domain. LSD1 recognizes a large segment of the H3 tail through a deep, negatively charged pocket at the active site and possibly a shallow groove on its surface. CoREST SANT2 interacts with DNA. Disruption of the SANT2-DNA interaction diminishes CoREST-dependent demethylation of nucleosomes by LSD1. The shape and dimension of LSD1-CoREST suggest its bivalent binding to nucleosomes, allowing efficient H3-K4 demethylation. This spatially separated, multivalent nucleosome binding mode may apply to other chromatin-modifying enzymes that generally contain multiple nucleosome binding modules.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Pharmacology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA.