Biological roles of LSD1 beyond its demethylase activity

F Gu, Y Lin, Z Wang, X Wu, Z Ye, Y Wang… - Cellular and Molecular …, 2020 - Springer
F Gu, Y Lin, Z Wang, X Wu, Z Ye, Y Wang, H Lan
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 2020Springer
It is well-established that Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1, also known as KDM1A)
roles as a lysine demethylase canonically acting on H3K4me1/2 and H3K9me1/2 for
regulating gene expression. Though the discovery of non-histone substrates methylated by
LSD1 has largely expanded the functions of LSD1 as a typical demethylase, recent
groundbreaking studies unveiled its non-catalytic functions as a second life for this
demethylase. We and others found that LSD1 is implicated in the interaction with a line of …
Abstract
It is well-established that Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1, also known as KDM1A) roles as a lysine demethylase canonically acting on H3K4me1/2 and H3K9me1/2 for regulating gene expression. Though the discovery of non-histone substrates methylated by LSD1 has largely expanded the functions of LSD1 as a typical demethylase, recent groundbreaking studies unveiled its non-catalytic functions as a second life for this demethylase. We and others found that LSD1 is implicated in the interaction with a line of proteins to exhibit additional non-canonical functions in a demethylase-independent manner. Here, we present an integrated overview of these recent literatures charging LSD1 with unforeseen functions to re-evaluate and summarize its non-catalytic biological roles beyond the current understanding of its demethylase activity. Given LSD1 is reported to be ubiquitously overexpressed in a variety of tumors, it has been generally considered as an innovative target for cancer therapy. We anticipate that these non-canonical functions of LSD1 will arouse the consideration that extending the LSD1-based drug discovery to targeting LSD1 protein interactions non-catalytically, not only its demethylase activity, may be a novel strategy for cancer prevention.
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