Anti-MOF/MYST1: Mouse MOF/MYST1 Antibody

In mammalian cell culture systems, a variety of different activities have been ascribed to Mof, including roles in cell cycle regulation and response to DNA repair. Mof can acetylate ATM, a protein with a key role in cell cycle checkpoint control, and through acetylation, modify its activity. Moreover, Mof can acetylate p53 at lysine 120, and this activity is important in directing the cell into an apoptotic pathway via the induction of Bax and Puma gene expression by p53, at least in H1299 cells. Another function ascribed to Mof is to enhance transcription as a coactivator for the trithorax group protein MLL in inducing the expression of the Hoxa9 gene. This action at a specific locus would mean that Mof may have distinctly different molecular roles in mammalian cells from those in insect cells, namely, effects on specific loci versus large regions of the genome, such as the male X chromosome.²

In mammals, the Mof gene is ubiquitously expressed, and most tissues have similar, modest levels of expression. Exceptionally high levels of expression are found in the testis. Mof is expressed in both proliferating and postmitotic cells and, during development, does not appear to be restricted to regions with high levels of apoptosis or restricted to cells progressing through the cell cycle. The wide range of cellular processes that were reported to be affected by Mof, together with ubiquitous expression of the Mof gene, suggests that Mof is a multifunctional protein. A major biochemical role of Mof in Drosophila and mammalian cells is histone 4 lysine 16 (H4K16) acetylation. It was shown that Mof mutant embryos first lack acetylation specifically on H4K16 and then show abnormal chromatin morphology before finally undergoing death by apoptosis.³