There are two classes of enzymes involved in histone methylation: methyltransferases and demethylases. While methyltransferases are responsible for establishing methylation patterns, demethylases are capable of removing methyl groups not only from histones but other proteins as well. Histone demethylases not only target methylated sites on histone tails but also interact with methylated sites on non-histone proteins, such as p53.
Histone lysine demethylases (KDMs) are of interest as drug targets due to their regulatory roles in chromatin organization and their tight associations with diseases including cancer and mental disorders.
JMJD1A (also named KDM3A) is a demethylasethat removes methyl from histone lysine H3K9. It plays important roles in various cellular processes, including spermatogenesis, energy metabolism, regulation of stem cell and gender display.
Jumonji domain-containing 3 (Jmjd3) has been identified as a histone demethylase, which specifically catalyzes the removal of methylation from H3K27me3.
