Dosage compensation ensures that males with a single X chromosome and females with two X chromosomes have the same amount of most X-linked gene products. In Drosophila, this is acheived by enhancing the level of transcription of the X chromosome in males. Proteins such as maleless, male specific lethal 1, 2 and 3, and males absent on the first (MOF) form a dosage compensation complex (DCC) that is required for the twofold increase of transcription of the male X chromosome. The DCC is preferentially associated with many sites on the X chromosome in somatic cells of males. The binding of the DCC to the X chromosome is dependent upon histone 4 acetylation at lysine 16, which is accomplished by MOF. In mammals, MOF (also designated hMOF, MYST1, or MOZ) belongs to the MYST family of histone acetyl transferases which are characterized by a unique C2HC-type zinc finger close to their HAT domains. MOF utilizes the zinc finger domain to contact the globular part of the nucleosome as well as the histone H4 N-terminal tail substrate. The carboxy terminal domain of human MOF also has histone acetyltransferase activity directed against histones H3 and H2A, a characteristic shared with other MYST family histone acetyltransferases.
