Plasmids to produce the catalytic domain of human PRDM9 or mouse Prdm9 protein, a robust methyltransferase generating trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3).
PRDM9 specifically trimethylates lysine 4 of histone H3, but does not have the ability to mono- and dimethylate lysine 4 of histone H3. H3K4 methylation represents a specific tag for epigenetic transcriptional activation during early meiotic prophase and is essential for proper meiotic progression. Recombinant, purified catalytic domains of human PRDM9 (aa 194-414) and mouse Prdm9 (aa 195-368) can generate histone modification in vitro. These plasmids can be utilized to produce large quantities of the catalytic domain of the human PRDM9 or mouse PRDM9 to examine the enzymatic properties of the trimethyltransferase for further research into its function and role in gene regulation during meiosis.