ING2 recruits histone methyltransferase activity with methylation site specificity distinct from histone H3 lysines 4 and 9

p33ING2 belongs to the ING-gene family that is involved in tumor suppression, DNA repair, cell cycle regulation, and cellular senescence. Most functions are dependent on the tumor suppressor p53. p33ING2 was also shown to bind to trimethylated lysine 4 of histone H3. Here, we show that p33ING2 contains a transferable silencing function, which is independent of p53. p33ING2-mediated gene silencing is resistant to the HDAC-inhibitor trichostatin A indicating that p33ING2 uses a non-HDAC class I or II pathway for gene repression in reporter assays. In line with that we show that p33ING2 is associated with histone methyltransferase (HMT) activity in vitro and in vivo, methylating specifically histone H3. Interestingly, the specificity is distinct from the MeCP2-recruited HMT. Mutation or methylation of lysine 9, a mark well known for repression, abrogates histone methylation by MeCP2 but not by the p33ING2 complex. Instead, the ING2-associated HMT shows an increased methylation activity if lysine 9 is methylated. In contrast, mutation or methylation of lysine 4, a methylation preferentially detected at active genes, led to a reduction of the ING2-associated HMT. Notably, also p33ING1 recruits HMT activity suggesting a more general biochemical interaction between members of p33ING family and HMT activity. Deletion analyses revealed that the ING2 C-terminus recruits HMT activity, which correlates with silencing function.