Divalent metal- and high mobility group N protein-dependent nucleosome stability and conformation.

ABSTRACT: High mobility group N proteins (HMGNs) bind specifically to the nucleosome core and act as chromatin unfolding and activating factors. Using an all-Xenopus system, we found that HMGN1 and HMGN2 binding to nucleosomes results in distinct ion-dependent conformation and stability. HMGN2 association with nucleosome core particle or nucleosomal array in the presence of divalent metal triggers a reversible transition to a species with much reduced electrophoretic mobility, consistent with a less compact state of the nucleosome. Residues outside of the nucleosome binding domain are required for the activity, which is also displayed by an HMGN1 truncation product lacking part of the regulatory domain. In addition, thermal denaturation assays show that the presence of 1 mM Mg(2+)> or Ca(2+) gives a

SUBMITTER: Ong MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3005839 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature