Essential Cytoplasmic Role of the Histone Lysine Methyltransferase Setdb1 in Post-Transcriptional Regulation in Embryonic Stem Cells

Abstract Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) fate is regulated both at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Indeed, several studies showed that, in addition to gene transcription, mRNA stability and protein synthesis are finely tuned and strongly control the ESCs pluripotency and fate changes. An increasing number of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) involved in post-transcriptional and translational regulation of gene expression has been identified as regulators of ESC identity. The major lysine methyltransferase Setdb1 is essential for the self-renewal and viability of ESCs. Setdb1 was primarily known to methylate the lysine 9 of histone 3 (H3K9) in the nucleus, where it regulates chromatin functions. However, Setdb1 is also massively localized in the cytoplasm, including in mouse ESCs, where its role remains unknown. Here we show that the cytoplasmic Setdb1 (cSetdb1) is essential for the survival of mESCs. Functional assays further demonstrate that cSetdb1 regulates gene expression post-transcriptionally, affecting the abundance of mRNAs and the rate of newly synthetized proteins. A yeast-two-hybrid assay shows that cSetdb1 interacts with several regulators of mRNA stability and protein translation machinery, such as the ESCs-specific E3 ubiquitin ligase and mRNA silencer Trim71/Lin41. Finally, proteomic analyses reveal that cSetdb1 is required for the integrity of Trim71 complexes involved in mRNA metabolism and translation. Altogether, our data uncover the essential cytoplasmic function of a firstly supposed nuclear “histone” lysine methyltransferase, Setdb1, and provide new insights into the cytoplasmic/post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression mediated by a key epigenetic regulator.