Chromodomains in chromatin-associated proteins act as ‘readers’ of methylated lysines within histones. Structural and computational design led to the identification of UNC3866, a potent, cell-active peptide-based inhibitor of the methyllysine reading functions of CBX and CDY chromodomains. We report the design and characterization of UNC3866, a potent antagonist of the methyllysine (Kme) reading function of the Polycomb CBX and CDY families of chromodomains. Polycomb CBX proteins regulate gene expression by targeting Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) to sites of H3K27me3 via their chromodomains. UNC3866 binds the chromodomains of CBX4 and CBX7 most potently, with a Kd of ∼100 nM for each, and is 6- to 18-fold selective as compared to seven other CBX and CDY chromodomains while being highly selective over >250 other protein targets. X-ray crystallography revealed that UNC3866's interactions with the CBX chromodomains closely mimic those of the methylated H3 tail. UNC4195, a biotinylated derivative of UNC3866, was used to demonstrate that UNC3866 engages intact PRC1 and that EED incorporation into PRC1 is isoform dependent in PC3 prostate cancer cells. Finally, UNC3866 inhibits PC3 cell proliferation, consistent with the known ability of CBX7 overexpression to confer a growth advantage, whereas UNC4219, a methylated negative control compound, has negligible effects.

SUV39H1, the first identified histone lysine methyltransferase in human, is involved in chromatin modification and gene regulation. SUV39H1 contains a chromodomain in its N-terminus, which potentially plays a role in methyl-lysine recognition and SUV39H1 targeting. In this study, the structure of the chromodomain of human SUV39H1 was determined by X-ray crystallography. The SUV39H1 chromodomain displays a generally conserved structure fold compared with other solved chromodomains. However, different from other chromodomains, the SUV39H1 chromodomain possesses a much longer helix at its C-terminus. Furthermore, the SUV39H1 chromodomain was shown to recognize histone H3K9me2/3 specifically.

SETDB1 is an essential H3K9 methyltransferase involved in silencing of retroviruses and gene regulation. We show here that its triple Tudor domain (3TD) specifically binds to doubly modified histone H3 containing K14 acetylation and K9 methylation. Crystal structures of 3TD in complex with H3K14ac/K9me peptides reveal that peptide binding and K14ac recognition occurs at the interface between Tudor domains (TD) TD2 and TD3. Structural and biochemical data demonstrate a pocket switch mechanism in histone code reading, because K9me1 or K9me2 is preferentially recognized by the aromatic cage of TD3, while K9me3 selectively binds to TD2. Mutations in the K14ac/K9me binding sites change the sub-nuclear localization of 3TD. ChIP-seq analyses show that SETDB1 is enriched at H3K9me3 regions and K9me3/K14ac is enriched at SETDB1 binding sites overlapping with LINE elements, suggesting that recruitment of the SETDB1 complex to K14ac/K9me regions has a role in silencing of active genomic regions.