Overview:

KAT9 (also known as ELP3) is the catalytic subunit of the histone acetyltransferase (HAT) elongator complex, which contributes to transcript elongation and also regulates the maturation of projection neurons. The knockdown of KAT9 by antisense morpholinos in zebrafish embryos resulted in dose-dependent shortening and abnormal branching of motor neurons with no concomitant morphologic abnormalities (1). KAT9 knockdown also impairs paternal DNA demethylation as indicated by reporter binding, immunostaining, and bisulfite sequencing (2).

Gene Aliases:

KAT9; ELP3; FLJ10422

Genbank Number:

NM_018091

References:

1. Simpson, C. L. et.al: Variants of elongator protein 3 (ELP3) gene are associated with motor neuron degeneration. Hum. Molec. Genet. 18: 472-481, 2009.

2. Okada, Y. et.al: A role for the elongator complex in zygotic paternal genome demethylation. Nature 463: 554-558, 2010.