ABSTRACT: One elusive aspect of the chromosome architecture is how it constrains the DNA topology. Nucleosomes stabilise negative DNA supercoils by restraining a DNA linking number difference (∆Lk) of about -1.26. However, whether this capacity is uniform across the genome is unknown. Here, we calculated the ∆Lk restrained by over 4000 nucleosomes in yeast cells. To achieve this, we placed each nucleosome in a circular minichromosome and performed Topo-seq, a high-throughput procedure to inspect the topology of circular DNA libraries in one gel electrophoresis. We found that nucleosomes inherently restrain distinct ∆Lk values depending on their genomic origin. Nucleosome DNA topologies differ at gene bodies (∆Lk=-1.29), intergenic regions (∆Lk=-1.23), rDNA genes (∆Lk=-1.24) and telomeric regions (∆Lk=-1.07). Nucleosomes near the transcription start and termination sites also exhibit singular DNA topologies. Our findings demonstrate that nucleosome DNA topology is imprinted by its native chromatin context and persists when the nucleosome is relocated.
Project description:Hox genes are required during the morphogenesis of both vertebrate digits and external genitals.We investigated whether transcription in such distinct contexts involves a shared enhancer-containing landscape. We show that the same regulatory topology is used, yet with some tissue-specific enhancer-promoter interactions, suggesting the hijacking of a regulatory backbone from one context to the other. In addition, comparable organizations are observed at both HoxA and HoxD clusters, which separated through genome duplication in an ancestral invertebrate animal.We propose that this convergent regulatory evolution was triggered by the pre-existence of some chromatin architecture, thus facilitating the subsequent recruitment of the appropriate transcription factors. Such regulatory topologies may have both favored and constrained the evolution of pleiotropic developmental loci in vertebrates. Circular Chromosome Conformation Capture (4C-seq) samples from mouse digit cells and mouse genital tubercle cells performed as previously described (Noordermeer et al. 2011)
Project description:Goal of this project was the identification of chromatin interacting proteins whose binding is differentially regulated by various combinatorial chromatin modifications found in different chromatin states such as promoters, enhancers and heterochromatin. To achieve this, recombinant modified nucleosomes representing different chromatin states were assembled from canonical histones, H2A.Z and modified ligated H3/H4 histone proteins and biotinylated nucleosomal DNAs. Assembled nucleosomes were immobilized on streptavidin-coated beads via biotinylated di-nucleosomal 601 DNA and used for nucleosome affinity purifications to identify proteins regulated by chromatin modifications from SILAC-labelled HeLaS3 nuclear extracts (Arg10 and Lys8). SILAC affinity purifications were carried out in "forward" (heavy extract on modified nucleosome and light extract on unmodified nucleosome) and "reverse" (light extract on modified nucleosome and heavy extract on unmodified nucleosome) label-swap experiments and protein abundances were quantified by MaxQuant. Initial trial experiments with biotinylated mono-, di- and tetra- 601 nucleosomes are also deposited along with the data for the di-nucleosome experiments. See also: Bartke et al., 2010. Nucleosome-interacting proteins regulated by DNA and histone methylation. Cell 143, 470–484; doi:10.1016/j.cell.2010.10.012. The H4K20me2 samples from this experiment were previously deposited with identifier PXD009281. These were published in: Nakamura et al., 2019. H4K20me0 recognition by BRCA1-BARD1 directs homologous recombination to sister chromatids. Nature Cell Biology 21, 311–318; doi: 10.1038/s41556-019-0282-9.
Project description:Goal of this project was the identification of chromatin interacting proteins whose binding is differentially regulated by di-methylation of lysine 20 on histone H4 (H4K20me2). To achieve this unodified and H4K20me2-modified histone H4 were generated by native chemical ligation and assembled into recombinant di-nucleosomes. The di-nucleosomes were immobilized on streptavidin-coated beads via the biotinylated di-nucleosomal DNA and used for nucleosome affinity purifications to identify proteins regulated by H4K20me2 from SILAC-labelled HeLaS3 nuclear extracts (Arg10 and Lys8). SILAC affinity purifications were carried out in "forward" (heavy extract on modified nucleosome and light extract on unmodified nucleosome) and "reverse" (light extract on modified nucleosome and heavy extract on unmodified nucleosome) label-swap experiments and protein abundances were quantified by MaxQuant.
Project description:Chemical modification of histone proteins by methylation plays a central role in chromatin regulation by recruiting epigenetic ‘readers’ via specialized binding domains. Depending on the degree of methylation, the exact modified amino acid, and the associated reader proteins histone methylations are involved in the regulation of all DNA-based processes, such as transcription, DNA replication, and DNA repair. We have previously established a method that allows the unbiased identification of nuclear proteins which binding to nucleosomes is regulated by the presence of specific histone modifications (1,2). The method is based on an in-vitro reconstitution of semi-synthetic nucleosomes bearing a predefined set of histone modifications which are subsequently used as baits for affinity purification pull-down experiments with nuclear extracts followed by identification and quantification of nucleosome-interacting proteins using LC-MS/MS. Here we provide a representative set of label-free MS results for nucleosome pull-down affinity purification experiments performed using unmodified as well as H3K4me3- and H3K9me3-modified di-nucleosomes and nuclear extract obtained from HeLa S3 cells. 1. Bartke T, Vermeulen M, Xhemalce B, Robson SC, Mann M, Kouzarides T (2010) Nucleosome-interacting proteins regulated by DNA and histone methylation. Cell 143:470-484 2. Makowski MM, Gräwe C, Foster BM, Nguyen NV, Bartke T, Vermeulen M (2018) Global profiling of protein-DNA and protein-nucleosome binding affinities using quantitative mass spectrometry. Nat Commun 9:1653
Project description:Chromatin remodelers are ATP-dependent enzymes that reorganize nucleosomes within all eukaryotic genomes. The Chd1 remodeler specializes in shifting nucleosomes into evenly spaced arrays, a defining characteristic of chromatin in gene bodies that blocks spurious transcription initiation. Linked to some forms of autism and commonly mutated in prostate cancer, Chd1 is essential for maintaining pluripotency in stem cells. Here we report a complex of yeast Chd1 bound to a nucleosome in a nucleotide-free state, determined by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to 2.6 Å resolution. The structure shows a bulge of the DNA tracking strand where the ATPase motor engages the nucleosome, consistent with an initial stage in DNA translocation. Unlike other remodeler-nucleosome complexes, nucleosomal DNA compensates for the remodeler-induced bulge with a bulge of the complementary DNA strand one helical turn downstream from the ATPase motor. Unexpectedly, the structure also reveals an N-terminal binding motif, called ChEx, which binds on the exit-side acidic patch of the nucleosome. The ChEx motif can displace a LANA-based peptide from the acidic patch, which suggests a means by which Chd1 remodelers may block competing chromatin remodelers from acting on the opposite side of the nucleosome.
Project description:Characteristic features of chromatin states are not limited to particular epigenetic modifications but include other regulatory cues, such as linker DNA length, typically ranging from around 35-55 bp in most eu- and heterochromatin domains (Valouev et al, 2011; Voong et al., 2016, Cell) to over 200 bp in nucleosome-depleted regions (NDRs) found at active enhancers and promoters (Schones et al, 2008; Hansen He et al, 2010). To investigate whether and how the nucleosome linker DNA affects chromatin recognition by nuclear proteins we performed a set of affinity purifications using di-nucleosomes incorporating different DNA linkers. Here, we investigated the effect of a 200 bp di-nucleosome linker DNA represented by scrambled DNA or SV40 promoter DNA sequence on the nuclear protein binding to di-nucleosome decorated with promoter-associated modifications, including H3K4me3K9acK14acK18acK23acK27ac, H4K5acK8acK12acK16acK20me2 and histone variant H2A.Z Below is a description (modifications and linker) of di-nucleosomes used in pull-downs with HeLa nuclear extracts followed by label-free MS: 1. H3K4me3-5ac,H4K20me2-4ac, H2AZ, 50bp linker 2. H3K4me3-5ac,H4K20me2-4ac, H2AZ, 200bp scrambled DNA linker 3. H3K4me3-5ac,H4K20me2-4ac, H2AZ, 200bp SV40 promoter DNA linker 4. Unmod. H3&H4, 50bp linker 5. Unmod. H3&H4, 200bp scrambled DNA linker 6. Unmod. H3&H4, 200bp SV40 promoter DNA linker
Project description:N6-methyldeoxyadenosine (6mA or m6dA) was shown more than 40 years ago to exist in simple eukaryotes, yet functional studies have been limited. Recent investigations in multiple eukaryotes suggest 6mA as a potential DNA epigenetic mark that plays regulatory roles in gene regulation. Here we use Tetrahymena thermophila as a model to examine the effects of 6mA on nucleosome positioning. We have employed independent methods to identify genome-wide 6mA distribution, which revealed the enrichment after transcription start sites with a periodic pattern and a mutually exclusive relationship with the positions of nucleosomes. The exclusive distribution pattern of 6mA and nucleosome can be recapitulated by in vitro nucleosome assembly on native Tetrahymena genomic DNA, but not on DNA without 6mA. Model DNA containing artificially installed 6mA resists nucleosome assembling compared to unmodified DNA in vitro. Computational simulation revealed that 6mA increases dsDNA rigidity, which disfavors nucleosome wrapping. Knockout of a potential 6mA methyltransferase disturbs the nucleosome positioning in Tetrahymena, leading to the transcriptome-wide change of gene expression. These findings uncover a new mechanism by which DNA 6mA assists to shape the chromatin topology in order to stabilize gene expression.
Project description:Nucleosome organization is critical for gene regulation. In living cells, this organization is determined by multiple factors, including the action of chromatin remodelers, competition with site-specific DNA-binding proteins, and the DNA sequence preferences of the nucleosomes themselves. However, it has been difficult to estimate the relative importance of each of these mechanisms in vivo, because in vivo nucleosome maps reflect the combined action of all influencing factors. Here, we determine the importance of DNA sequence preferences experimentally by measuring the genome-wide occupancy of nucleosomes assembled on purified yeast genomic DNA. The resulting map, in which nucleosome occupancy is governed only by the intrinsic sequence preferences of nucleosomes, is remarkably similar to in vivo nucleosome maps generated in three different growth conditions. In vitro, nucleosome depletion is evident at many transcription factor binding sites and around gene start and end sites, suggesting that nucleosome depletion at these sites in vivo is partially encoded in the genome. We confirm these results with a micrococcal nuclease-independent experiment that measures the relative affinity of nucleosomes for ~40,000 double-stranded 150bp oligonucleotides. Using our in vitro data, we devise a computational model of nucleosome sequence preferences that is significantly correlated with in vivo nucleosome occupancy in C. elegans. Our results indicate that the intrinsic DNA sequence preferences of nucleosomes play a central role in determining the organization of nucleosomes in vivo.
Project description:Nucleosomes have structural and regulatory functions in all eukaryotic DNA-templated processes. The position of nucleosomes on DNA and the stability of the underlying histone-DNA interactions affect the access of regulatory proteins to DNA. Both stability and position are regulated through DNA sequence, histone post-translational modifications, histone variants, chromatin remodelers, and transcription factors. Here, we explored the functional implications of nucleosome properties on gene expression and development in C. elegans embryos. We performed a time-course of micrococcal nuclease (MNase) digestion, and measured the relative sensitivity or resistance of nucleosomes throughout the genome. Fragile nucleosomes were defined by nucleosomal DNA fragments that were recovered preferentially in early MNase-digestion time points. Nucleosome fragility was strongly and positively correlated with the AT content of the underlying DNA sequence. There was no correlation between promoter nucleosome fragility and the levels of histone modifications or histone variants. Genes with fragile nucleosomes in their promoters tended to be lowly expressed and expressed in a context-specific way, operating in neuronal response, the immune system, and stress response. In addition to DNA-encoded nucleosome fragility, we also found fragile nucleosomes at locations where we expected to find destabilized nucleosomes, for example at transcription factor binding sites where nucleosomes compete with DNA-binding factors. Our data suggest that in C. elegans promoters, nucleosome fragility is in large part DNA-encoded, and that it poises genes for future context-specific activation in response to environmental stress and developmental cues.
Project description:Nucleosomes in active chromatin are dynamic, but whether they have distinct structural conformations is unknown. To identify nucleosomes with alternative structures genome-wide, we used H4S47C-anchored cleavage mapping, which revealed that nucleosomes at 5% of budding yeast nucleosome positions have asymmetric histone-DNA interactions. These asymmetric interactions are enriched at nucleosome positions that flank promoters. Micrococcal nuclease (MNase) sequence-based profiles of asymmetric nucleosome positions revealed a corresponding asymmetry in MNase protection near the dyad axis, suggesting that the loss of DNA contacts around H4S47 is accompanied by protection of the DNA from MNase. Chromatin immunoprecipitation mapping of selected nucleosome remodelers indicated that asymmetric nucleosomes are bound by the RSC chromatin remodeling complex, which is required for maintaining nucleosomes at asymmetric positions. These results imply that the asymmetric nucleosome-RSC complex is a metastable intermediate representing partial unwrapping and protection of nucleosomal DNA on one side of the dyad axis during chromatin remodeling.