Cloning, expression, purification and crystallization of Schizosaccharomyces pombe Set7, a putative histone methyltransferase

Dysfunction of histone‐modifying enzymes affects chromatin regulation and is involved in carcinogenesis, tumour progression and other diseases. Histone methyltransferases are a family of key histone‐modifying enzymes, but their structures, functions and mechanisms are incompletely understood, thus constraining drug‐design efforts. Here, preliminary steps towards structure–function studies of Schizosaccharomyces pombe Set7, a putative histone methyltransferase and the first yeast full‐length SET‐domain‐containing protein to be studied using X‐ray crystallography, are reported. The methods from cloning to X‐ray diffraction and phasing are discussed and the results will aid in prospective studies of histone‐modifying enzymes. The methods used to clone, express, purify, crystallize and determine the phase of a full‐length putative histone methyltransferase from yeast are described.