Elongation Protein 3 (ELP3)

ELP3 is the catalytic subunit of the histone acetyltransferase elongator complex, which contributes to transcript elongation and also regulates the maturation of projection neurons.ELP3 interacted with endogenous ELP1 (IKBKAP), the scaffold subunit of the elongator complex, in all human cell types examined. Depletion of Elp3 reduced the branching of projection mouse neurons in vitro and in vivo, and Elp3-silenced projection neurons displayed defects in radial migration. In human cell lines, both ELP1 and ELP3 associated with microtubules, and depletion of either ELP1 or ELP3 resulted in reduced acetylation of alpha-tubulin. In HEK293 cells, ELP3 expression counteracted HDAC6-mediated alpha-tubulin deacetylation in a dose-dependent manner, and this effect required the histone acetyltransferase domain of ELP3.