1. Histone H2A.Z inheritance during the cell cycle and its impact on promoter organization and dynamics
- Author
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Gavin A. Huttley, Tatiana A. Soboleva, Jane Amrichova, David J. Tremethick, Brian J. Parker, Cameron Jack, Maxim Nekrasov, and Rohan B. H. Williams
- Subjects
animal structures ,biology ,Molecular biology ,Histone ,Histone H1 ,Structural Biology ,Histone methyltransferase ,embryonic structures ,Histone H2A ,Histone methylation ,biology.protein ,Histone code ,Histone octamer ,Molecular Biology ,Chromatin immunoprecipitation - Abstract
Although it has been clearly established that well-positioned histone H2A.Z-containing nucleosomes flank the nucleosome-depleted region (NDR) at the transcriptional start site (TSS) of active mammalian genes, how this chromatin-based information is transmitted through the cell cycle is unknown. We show here that in mouse trophoblast stem cells, the amount of histone H2A.Z at promoters decreased during S phase, coinciding with homotypic (H2A.Z-H2A.Z) nucleosomes flanking the TSS becoming heterotypic (H2A.Z-H2A). To our surprise these nucleosomes remained heterotypic at M phase. At the TSS, we identified an unstable heterotypic histone H2A.Z-containing nucleosome in G1 phase that was lost after DNA replication. These dynamic changes at the TSS mirror a global expansion of the NDR at S and M phases, which, unexpectedly, is unrelated to transcriptional activity. Coincident with the loss of histone H2A.Z at promoters, histone H2A.Z is targeted to the centromere when mitosis begins.
- Published
- 2012