HAT1 coordinates histone production and acetylation via H4 promoter binding

The energetic costs of duplicating chromatin are large and therefore likely depend on nutrient sensing checkpoints and metabolic inputs. By studying chromatin modifiers regulated by epithelial growth factor, we identified histone acetyltransferase 1 (HAT1) as an induced gene that enhances proliferation through coordinating histone production, acetylation and glucose metabolism. In addition to its canonical role as a cytoplasmic histone H4 acetyltransferase, we isolated a HAT1-containing complex bound specifically at promoters of H4 genes. HAT1-dependent transcription of H4 genes required an acetate-sensitive promoter element. HAT1 expression was critical for S-phase progression and maintenance of H3 lysine 9 acetylation at proliferation-associated genes, including histone genes. Therefore, these data describe a feed-forward circuit whereby HAT1 captures acetyl-groups on nascent histones and drives H4 production by chromatin binding to support chromatin replication and acetylation. These findings have important implications for human disease, since high HAT1 levels associate with poor outcomes across multiple cancer types. ChIP-seq data in hTert-HME1 cells: 2 replicates HAT1 ChIP-seq, 2 replicates Rbap46 ChIP-seq, 2 replicates input control; 3 replicates H4K12ac ChIP-seq for shControl cells; 3 replicates of H4k12ac ChIP-seq for shHAT1 cells; 3 replicates of H4k5ac ChIP-seq for shControl cells; 3 replicates of H4k5ac ChIP-seq for shHAT1 cells; H3K9Ac ChIP-seq data in hTert-HME1 cells: 3 replicates of shControl and 3 replicates of shHAT1