Two distinct males absent on the first (MOF)-containing histone acetyltransferases are involved in the epithelial–mesenchymal transition in different ways in human cells

Human males absent on the first (MOF), a histone acetyltransferase (HAT), forms male-specific lethal (MSL) and non-specific lethal (NSL), two multiprotein HATs, in cells. MSL was originally discovered in dosage compensation study in Drosophila that can specifically acetylate H4K16, while NSL can simultaneously catalyze the H4 at K5, K8, and K16 sites. However, comparative studies of the two HATs in regulating specific biological functions are rarely reported. Here, we present evidence to argue that MSL and NSL function in different ways in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. At first, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated MSL1 (a key subunit of the MSL)-knockout (KO) and NSL3 (a key subunit of the NSL)-KO cells seem to prefer to grow in clusters. Interestingly, the former promotes cell survival and clonal formation, while the latter has the opposite effect on it. Cell staining revealed that MSL1-KO leads to multipolarized spindles, while NSL3-KO causes more lumen-like cells. Furthermore, in Transwell experiments, silencing of MSL1 promotes cell invasion in 293 T, MCF-7, and MDA-MB-231 cells. In contrast, the inhibitory effects on cell invasion are observed in the same NSL3-silenced cells. Consistent with this, mesenchymal biomarkers, like N-cadherin, vimentin, and snail, are negatively correlated with the expression level of MSL1; however, a positive relationship between these proteins and NSL3 in cells has been found. Further studies have clarified that MSL1, but not NSL3, can specifically bind to the E-box-containing Snail promoter region and thereby negatively regulate Snail transactivation. Also, silencing of MSL1 promotes the lung metastasis of B16F10 melanoma cells in mice. Finally, ChIP-Seq analysis indicated that the NSL may be mainly involved in phosphoinositide-mediated signaling pathways. Taken together, the MOF-containing MSL and NSL HATs may regulate the EMT process in different ways in order to respond to different stimuli.