Project description:DNA topoisomerase IIα (Topo IIα) is the target of an important class of anticancer drugs, but tumor cells can become resistant by reducing the association of the enzyme with chromosomes. Here we describe a critical mechanism of chromatin recruitment and exchange that relies on a novel chromatin tether (ChT) domain and mediates interaction with histone H3 and DNA. We show that the ChT domain controls the residence time of Topo IIα on chromatin in mitosis and is necessary for the formation of mitotic chromosomes. Our data suggest that the dynamics of Topo IIα on chromosomes are important for successful mitosis and implicate histone tail posttranslational modifications in regulating Topo IIα.
Project description:In multicellular organisms, nucleosomes carry epigenetic information that defines distinct patterns of gene expression, which are inherited over multiple generations. The enhanced capacity for information storage arises by nucleosome modifications, which are triggered by enzymes. Modified nucleosomes can transfer the mark to others that are in proximity by a positive-feedback (modification begets modification) mechanism. We created a generic polymer model, referred to as 3DSpreader, in which each bead, representing a nucleosome, stochastically switches between unmodified (U) and modified (M) states depending on the states of the neighbors. Modification begins at a specific nucleation site (NS) that is permanently in the M state, and could spread to other loci that is dictated by chromatin dynamics. Transfer of marks among the non-nucleation loci occurs stochastically as chromatin evolves in time. If the spreading rate is slower than the chromatin relaxation rate, which is biologically pertinent, then finite-sized domains form, driven by contacts between nucleosomes through a three-dimensional looping mechanism. Surprisingly, simulations based on the 3DSpreader model result in finite bounded domains that arise without the need for any boundary elements. Maintenance of spatially and temporally stable domains requires the presence of the NS, whose removal eliminates finite-sized modified domains. The theoretical predictions are in excellent agreement with experimental data for H3K9me3 spreading in mouse embryonic stem cells.
Project description:Chromatin, which consists of DNA and associated proteins, contains genetic information and is a mechanical component of the nucleus. Heterochromatic histone methylation controls nucleus and chromosome stiffness, but the contribution of heterochromatin protein HP1α (CBX5) is unknown. We used a novel HP1α auxin-inducible degron human cell line to rapidly degrade HP1α. Degradation did not alter transcription, local chromatin compaction, or histone methylation, but did decrease chromatin stiffness. Single-nucleus micromanipulation reveals that HP1α is essential to chromatin-based mechanics and maintains nuclear morphology, separate from histone methylation. Further experiments with dimerization-deficient HP1αI165E indicate that chromatin crosslinking via HP1α dimerization is critical, while polymer simulations demonstrate the importance of chromatin-chromatin crosslinkers in mechanics. In mitotic chromosomes, HP1α similarly bolsters stiffness while aiding in mitotic alignment and faithful segregation. HP1α is therefore a critical chromatin-crosslinking protein that provides mechanical strength to chromosomes and the nucleus throughout the cell cycle and supports cellular functions.
Project description:Mitotic chromosomes fold as compact arrays of chromatin loops. To identify the pathway of mitotic chromosome formation, we combined imaging and Hi-C analysis of synchronous DT40 cell cultures with polymer simulations. Here we show that in prophase, the interphase organization is rapidly lost in a condensin-dependent manner, and arrays of consecutive 60-kilobase (kb) loops are formed. During prometaphase, ~80-kb inner loops are nested within ~400-kb outer loops. The loop array acquires a helical arrangement with consecutive loops emanating from a central "spiral staircase" condensin scaffold. The size of helical turns progressively increases to ~12 megabases during prometaphase. Acute depletion of condensin I or II shows that nested loops form by differential action of the two condensins, whereas condensin II is required for helical winding.
Project description:Mitotic entry correlates with the condensation of the chromosomes, changes in histone modifications, exclusion of transcription factors from DNA, and the broad downregulation of transcription. However, whether mitotic condensation influences transcription in the subsequent interphase is unknown. Here, we show that preventing one chromosome to condense during mitosis causes it to fail resetting of transcription. Rather, in the following interphase, the affected chromosome contains unusually high levels of the transcription machinery, resulting in abnormally high expression levels of genes in cis, including various transcription factors. This subsequently causes the activation of inducible transcriptional programs in trans, such as the GAL genes, even in the absence of the relevant stimuli. Thus, mitotic chromosome condensation exerts stringent control on interphase gene expression to ensure the maintenance of basic cellular functions and cell identity across cell divisions. Together, our study identifies the maintenance of transcriptional homeostasis during interphase as an unexpected function of mitosis and mitotic chromosome condensation.
Project description:Faithful segregation of the genetic material during the cell cycle is key for the continuation of life. Central to this process is the assembly of a bipolar spindle that aligns the chromosomes and segregates them to the two daughter cells. Spindle bipolarity is strongly dependent on the activity of the homotetrameric kinesin Eg5. However, another kinesin, Kif15, also provides forces needed to separate the spindle poles during prometaphase and to maintain spindle bipolarity at metaphase. Here we identify KBP as a specific interaction partner of Kif15 in mitosis. We show that KBP promotes the localization of Kif15 to the spindle equator close to the chromosomes. Both Kif15 and KBP are required for the alignment of all the chromosomes to the metaphase plate and the assembly of stable kinetochore fibers of the correct length. Taken together our data uncover a novel role for Kif15 in complex with KBP during mitosis.
Project description:BackgroundPosttranslational histone modifications play a critical role in the regulation of gene transcription underlying synaptic plasticity and memory formation. One such epigenetic change is histone ubiquitination, a process that is mediated by the ubiquitin-proteasome system in a manner similar to that by which proteins are normally targeted for degradation. However, histone ubiquitination mechanisms are poorly understood in the brain and in learning. In this article, we describe a new role for the ubiquitin-proteasome system in histone crosstalk, showing that learning-induced monoubiquitination of histone H2B (H2Bubi) is required for increases in the transcriptionally active H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) mark at learning-related genes in the hippocampus.MethodsUsing a series of molecular, biochemical, electrophysiological, and behavioral experiments, we interrogated the effects of short interfering RNA-mediated knockdown and CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-mediated upregulation of ubiquitin ligases, deubiquitinating enzymes and histone methyltransferases in the rat dorsal hippocampus during memory consolidation.ResultsWe show that H2Bubi recruits H3K4me3 through a process that is dependent on the 19S proteasome subunit RPT6 and that a loss of H2Bubi in the hippocampus prevents learning-induced increases in H3K4me3, gene transcription, synaptic plasticity, and memory formation. Furthermore, we show that CRISPR-dCas9-mediated increases in H2Bubi promote H3K4me3 and memory formation under weak training conditions and that promoting histone methylation does not rescue memory impairments resulting from loss of H2Bubi.ConclusionsThese results suggest that H2B ubiquitination regulates histone crosstalk in learning by way of nonproteolytic proteasome function, demonstrating a novel mechanism by which histone modifications are coordinated in response to learning.
Project description:ChromoShake is a three-dimensional simulator designed to find the thermodynamically favored states for given chromosome geometries. The simulator has been applied to a geometric model based on experimentally determined positions and fluctuations of DNA and the distribution of cohesin and condensin in the budding yeast centromere. Simulations of chromatin in differing initial configurations reveal novel principles for understanding the structure and function of a eukaryotic centromere. The entropic position of DNA loops mirrors their experimental position, consistent with their radial displacement from the spindle axis. The barrel-like distribution of cohesin complexes surrounding the central spindle in metaphase is a consequence of the size of the DNA loops within the pericentromere to which cohesin is bound. Linkage between DNA loops of different centromeres is requisite to recapitulate experimentally determined correlations in DNA motion. The consequences of radial loops and cohesin and condensin binding are to stiffen the DNA along the spindle axis, imparting an active function to the centromere in mitosis.
Project description:During cell division, chromosomes must be folded into their compact mitotic form to ensure their segregation. This process is thought to be largely controlled by the action of condensin SMC protein complexes on chromatin fibers. However, how condensins organize metaphase chromosomes is not understood. We have combined micromanipulation of single human mitotic chromosomes, sub-nanonewton force measurement, siRNA interference of condensin subunit expression, and fluorescence microscopy, to analyze the role of condensin in large-scale chromosome organization. Condensin depletion leads to a dramatic (~ 10-fold) reduction in chromosome elastic stiffness relative to the native, non-depleted case. We also find that prolonged metaphase stalling of cells leads to overloading of chromosomes with condensin, with abnormally high chromosome stiffness. These results demonstrate that condensin is a main element controlling the stiffness of mitotic chromosomes. Isolated, slightly stretched chromosomes display a discontinuous condensing staining pattern, suggesting that condensins organize mitotic chromosomes by forming isolated compaction centers that do not form a continuous scaffold.
Project description:NuMA is an abundant long coiled-coil protein that plays a prominent role in spindle organization during mitosis. In interphase, NuMA is localized to the nucleus and hypothesized to control gene expression and chromatin organization. However, because of the prominent mitotic phenotype upon NuMA loss, its precise function in the interphase nucleus remains elusive. Here, we report that NuMA is associated with chromatin in interphase and prophase but released upon nuclear envelope breakdown (NEBD) by the action of Cdk1. We uncover that NuMA directly interacts with DNA via evolutionarily conserved sequences in its C-terminus. Notably, the expression of the DNA-binding-deficient mutant of NuMA affects chromatin decondensation at the mitotic exit, and nuclear shape in interphase. We show that the nuclear shape defects observed upon mutant NuMA expression are due to its potential to polymerize into higher-order fibrillar structures. Overall, this work establishes the spindle-independent function of NuMA in choreographing proper chromatin decompaction and nuclear shape by directly associating with the DNA.