In β-actin Knockouts, Epigenetic Reprogramming and RDNA Transcription Inactivation Lead to Growth and Proliferation Defects

Actin and nuclear myosin 1 (NM1) are regulators of transcription and chromatin organization. Using a genome-wide approach, we report here that β-actin binds intergenic and genic regions across the mammalian genome, associated with both protein-coding and rRNA genes. Within the rDNA, the distribution of β-actin correlated with NM1 and the other subunits of the B-WICH complex, WSTF and SNF2h. In β-actin(-/-) mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), we found that rRNA synthesis levels decreased concomitantly with drops in RNA polymerase I (Pol I) and NM1 occupancies across the rRNA gene. Reintroduction of wild-type β-actin, in contrast to mutated forms with polymerization defects, efficiently rescued rRNA synthesis underscoring the direct role for a polymerization-competent form of β-actin in Pol I transcription. The rRNA synthesis defects in the β-actin(-/-) MEFs are a consequence of epigenetic reprogramming with up-regulation of the repressive mark H3K4me1 (monomethylation of lys4 on histone H3) and enhanced chromatin compaction at promoter-proximal enhancer (T0 sequence), which disturb binding of the transcription factor TTF1. We propose a novel genome-wide mechanism where the polymerase-associated β-actin synergizes with NM1 to coordinate permissive chromatin with Pol I transcription, cell growth, and proliferation.-Almuzzaini, B., Sarshad, A. A. , Rahmanto, A. S., Hansson, M. L., Von Euler, A., Sangfelt, O., Visa, N., Farrants, A.-K. Ö., Percipalle, P. In β-actin knockouts, epigenetic reprogramming and rDNA transcription inactivation lead to growth and proliferation defects.