Biological Activity
Lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) is a component of several histone deacetylase complexes th at function through modifying chromatin structure to repress transcription. Methylation of lysine can lead either to gene silencing or activation depending on the specific lysine residue th at is methylated. LSD1 action can signal either activation or repression of transcription. The demethylation of histone H3 Lys4 by LSD1 leads to transcriptional repression of target genes, while demethylation of histone H3 at Lys9 leads to de-repression of androgen receptor target genes. The activity of LSD1 is regulated by its associated factors. Corepressor of RE1 silencing transcription factor/neural-restrictive silencing factor (REST), a transcriptional corepressor, promotes demethylation by enhancing the association of LSD1 with the nucleosomes and also protects LSD1 from proteasomal degradation.
