molecules Review SUMO and Transcriptional Regulation: The Lessons of Large-Scale Proteomic, Modifomic and Genomic Studies Mathias Boulanger 1,2 , Mehuli Chakraborty 1,2, Denis Tempé 1,2, Marc Piechaczyk 1,2,* and Guillaume Bossis 1,2,* 1 Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier (IGMM), University of Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France;
[email protected] (M.B.);
[email protected] (M.C.);
[email protected] (D.T.) 2 Equipe Labellisée Ligue Contre le Cancer, Paris, France * Correspondence:
[email protected] (M.P.);
[email protected] (G.B.) Abstract: One major role of the eukaryotic peptidic post-translational modifier SUMO in the cell is transcriptional control. This occurs via modification of virtually all classes of transcriptional actors, which include transcription factors, transcriptional coregulators, diverse chromatin components, as well as Pol I-, Pol II- and Pol III transcriptional machineries and their regulators. For many years, the role of SUMOylation has essentially been studied on individual proteins, or small groups of proteins, principally dealing with Pol II-mediated transcription. This provided only a fragmentary view of how SUMOylation controls transcription. The recent advent of large-scale proteomic, modifomic and genomic studies has however considerably refined our perception of the part played by SUMO in gene expression control. We review here these developments and the new concepts they are at the origin of, together with the limitations of our knowledge. How they illuminate the SUMO-dependent Citation: Boulanger, M.; transcriptional mechanisms that have been characterized thus far and how they impact our view of Chakraborty, M.; Tempé, D.; SUMO-dependent chromatin organization are also considered.