Myb proteins regulate expression of histone variant H2A.Z during thymocyte development

The c-myb gene encodes a transcription factor required for the normal development of T cells in the thymus, and for subsequent peripheral T-cell activation and survival. However, the profile of genes known to be transcriptionally regulated by c-Myb in T cells does not adequately explain the pleiotrophic nature of the effects of c-Myb. We present here a detailed molecular characterization of the regulation of a novel target gene, the histone variant H2A.Z. We show that c-Myb is able to bind to and activate the H2A.Z promoter in T cells both in vitro and in vivo, and present evidence that perturbation of Myb activity during T-cell development results in reduced H2A.Z expression. As H2A.Z is absolutely required for the early stages of mammalian development, and plays essential roles in the regulation of chromatin structure in gene promoters in yeast, its regulation by c-Myb is likely to be of some importance during T-cell development.