C6orf89 encodes three distinct HDAC enhancers that function in the nucleolus, the golgi and the midbody.

We report here that C6orf89, which encodes a protein that interacts with bombesin receptor subtype-3 and accelerates cell cycle progression and wound repair in human bronchial epithelial cells (Liu et al., 2011, PLoS ONE 6: e23072), encodes one soluble and two type II membrane proteins that function as histone deacetylases (HDAC) enhancers. Soluble 34/64sp is selectively targeted to the nucleolus and is retained in nucleolar organiser regions (NORs) in mitotic cells. Nucleolar 34/64sp is integrated into the ribosomal gene transcription machinery, colocalises and coimmunoprecipitates with the Pol I transcription factor UBF, and undergoes a dramatic relocalisation to the nucleolus upon the arrest of rDNA transcription, protein synthesis and PI3K/mTORC2 signalling. Membrane 42/116mp localises to the Golgi and the midbody, and its controlled ectopic expression provokes the disruption of the Golgi cisternae and hinders the separation of daughter cells and the completion of mitosis. The latter effect is also produced by the microinjection of an affinity-purified amfion antibody. The identification of C60rf89 as a gene that encodes three distinct proteins with the capacity to enhance the activity of histone deacetylases (HDACs) in the nucleolus, the Golgi and the midbody provides new information regarding the components of the acetylome and their capacity to interact with different functional groups in the cell.