Interplay of YEATS2 and GCDH mediates histone crotonylation and drives EMT in head and neck cancer

The regulation of gene expression is an integral cellular process orchestrated by epigenetic marks like histone modifications. Perturbations in the activity or abundance of epigenetic factors can lead to tumorigenesis. Remarkably, several metabolites influence the epigenetic landscape in cells. Here, we investigated the interplay between a highly expressed epigenetic factor, YEATS2, and a metabolic enzyme, GCDH, in regulating epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in head and neck cancer. We report that the histone reader YEATS2 is responsible for increased invasive potential in head and neck cancer in an SP1-dependent manner. YEATS2 functions by maintaining histone crotonylation, and its abrogation leads to a global decrease in the H3K27Cr mark. Mechanistically, we report that YEATS2 maintains high H3K27Cr levels at the promoter of the EMT-promoting gene SPARC . Further, we found that the addition of the H3K27Cr mark is also dependent on the crotonyl-CoA-producing enzyme GCDH. Overall, we describe a novel mechanism of interplay between epigenetics and metabolism in head and neck tumorigenesis, which results in the enhanced expression of EMT-related genes in a histone crotonylation-dependent manner.