PHF20 Activates Autophagy Genes through Enhancer Activation via H3K36me2 Binding Activity [ATAC-seq]

Autophagy is a catabolic pathway that maintains cellular homeostasis under various stress conditions, including nutrient-deprived conditions. To elevate autophagic flux to a sufficient level under stress conditions, transcriptional activation of autophagy genes occurs to replenish autophagy components. Here, using combination of RNA-seq, ATAC-seq and ChIP-seq, we demonstrated found that plant homeodomain finger protein 20 (Phf20PHF20), which is an epigenetic reader possessing methyl binding activity, plays a key role in controlling the expression of autophagy genes. PHF20 activates autophagy genes through enhancer activation via H3K36me2 binding activity as an epigenetic reader and that our findings emphasize the importance of nuclear regulation of autophagy. Overall design: mRNA-seq, ATAC-seq and ChIP-seq experiments under normal and 24hrs of glucose starvation condition in WT and Phf20-/- MEFs