Negative regulation of neuronal cell differentiation by INHAT subunit SET/TAF-Iβ

Epigenetic modification plays an important role in transcriptional regulation. As a subunit of the INHAT (inhibitor of histone acetyltransferases) complex, SET/TAF-Iβ evidences transcriptional repression activity. In this study, we demonstrate that SET/TAF-Iβ is abundantly expressed in neuronal tissues of Drosophila embryos. It is expressed at high levels prior to and in early stages of neuronal development, and gradually reduced as differentiation proceeds. SET/TAF-Iβ binds to the promoters of a subset of neuronal development markers and negatively regulates the transcription of these genes. The results of this study show that the knockdown of SET/TAF-Iβ by si-RNA induces neuronal cell differentiation, thus implicating SET/TAF-Iβ as a negative regulator of neuronal development.

Research highlights
► Histone acetylation inhibiting INHAT complex subunit SET/TAF-Iβ is abundantly expressed in neuronal tissues of Drosophila embryos.
► Knock down of SET/TAF-Iβ induces neuronal cell differentiation.
► Recruitment of SET/TAF-Iβ to the promoters of neuronal development marker genes such as Map1a and synapsin I negatively regulated their transcription.