Project description:The CENP-T/-W histone fold complex, as an integral part of the inner kinetochore, is essential for building a proper kinetochore at the centromere in order to direct chromosome segregation during mitosis. Notably, CENP-T/-W is not inherited at centromeres and new deposition is absolutely required at each cell cycle for kinetochore function. However, the mechanisms underlying this new deposition of CENP-T/-W at centromeres are unclear. Here, we find that CENP-T deposition at centromeres is uncoupled from DNA synthesis. We identify Spt16 and SSRP1, subunits of the H2A-H2B histone chaperone FACT, as CENP-W binding partners through a proteomic screen. We find that the C-terminal region of Spt16 binds specifically to the histone fold region of CENP-T/-W. Furthermore, depletion of Spt16 impairs CENP-T and CENP-W deposition at endogenous centromeres and site directed targeting of Spt16 alone is sufficient to ensure local de novo CENP-T accumulation. We propose a model in which the FACT chaperone stabilizes the soluble CENP-T/-W complex in the cell and promotes dynamics of exchange, enabling CENP-T/-W deposition at centromeres.
Project description:The heterodimeric histone chaperone FACT consisting of SSRP1 and SPT16 contributes to dynamic nucleosome rearrangements during various DNA-dependent processes including transcription. In search of post-translational modifications that may regulate the activity of FACT, SSRP1 and SPT16 were isolated from Arabidopsis cells and analysed by mass spectrometry. Four acetylated lysine residues could be mapped within the basic C-terminal region of SSRP1, while three phosphorylated serine/threonine residues were identified in the acidic C-terminal region of SPT16. Mutational analysis of the SSRP1 acetylation sites revealed only mild effects. However, phosphorylation of SPT16 that is catalysed by protein kinase CK2, modulates histone interactions. A non-phosphorylatable version of SPT16 displayed reduced histone binding and (unlike the phosphorylatable wild-type and phosphomimic versions) proved inactive in complementing the growth and developmental phenotypes of spt16 mutant plants. In plants expressing the non-phosphorylatable SPT16 version we detected at a subset of genes enrichment of histone H3 directly upstream of RNA polymerase II transcriptional start sites (TSSs) in a region that usually is nucleosome-depleted. This is associated with altered transcript levels, suggesting that some genes require phosphorylation of the SPT16 acidic region for establishing the correct nucleosome occupancy at the TSS as a prerequisite for proper transcription.
Project description:Mot1 is a conserved and essential Swi2/Snf2 ATPase that can remove TATA-binding protein (TBP) from DNA using ATP hydrolysis, and in so doing exerts global effects on transcription. Spt16 is also essential and functions globally in transcriptional regulation as a component of the FACT histone chaperone complex. Here we demonstrate that Mot1 and Spt16 regulate a largely overlapping set of genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. As expected, Mot1 was found to control TBP levels at co-regulated promoters. In contrast, Spt16 did not affect TBP recruitment. Interestingly, Mot1 was required for Spt16 recruitment to co-activated promoters. In contrast, Spt16 levels in gene coding regions were unaffected by Mot1 as well as RNA polymerase II density. The co-localization of Mot1 and Spt16 at promoters and the broad overlap in the sets of genes they control is consistent with physical and genetic interactions between them. The data support a model in which these factors participate in a regulatory pathway in which Mot1 acts upstream of Spt16. Tiling arrays covering the entirety of the S.cerevisiae genome were used to identify the effects of Mot1 and Spt16 on RNA expression genome-wide. All samples were done in biological duplicates. The average signal from the spt16-197 samples was compared to the SPT16-WT to determine changes in expression. The average signal from the double mutant mot1-42 spt16-197 was compared to both SPT16-WT and MOT1-WT. The MOT1-WT data was previously published by our lab and is available at GEO accession GSM456548. Comparisons were made from our Spt16 dataset to the previously published MOT1-WT and mot1-42 data, and the entire study is available at GEO accession GSE18283. Differential RNA (spt16-197/SPT16): spt16-197_over_SPT16-WT.bar Differential RNA (mot1-42 spt16-197/SPT16): dbl_mut_over_SPT16-WT.bar Differential RNA (mot1-42 spt16-197/MOT1): dbl_mut_over_MOT1-WT.bar
Project description:Parental histone recycling is essential for the restoration of chromatin-based epigenetic information during chromatin replication; however, the specific mechanisms underlying the local recycling of parental histones remain poorly understood. Here, we reveal an unexpected role of the Spt16-N domain in histone chaperone FACT during parental histone recycling and transfer in budding yeast. We found that depletion of Spt16 or mutations in the Spt16 middle domain leads to defects in both parental histone recycling and new histone deposition, affecting both the leading and lagging strands of DNA replication forks, highlighting the essential role of the FACT complex in both parental histone recycling and new histone deposition. Surprisingly, Spt16-N deletion results in an apparent defect in parental histone recycling, with a more pronounced defect on the lagging strand than the corresponding leading strand. Mechanistically, the Spt16-N domain acts as a protective barrier, shielding FACT-bound histone H3-H4 and facilitating its interaction with Mcm2, which ensures efficient local parental histone recycling. Collectively, the Spt16-N domain provides a protein–protein interaction module allowing FACT to act as a shuttle chaperone, cooperate with multiple replisome components, which act as co-chaperones, to form a complex involving the shuttle chaperone, histones, and co-chaperones, during parental histone recycling and transfer.
Project description:Mot1 is a conserved and essential Swi2/Snf2 ATPase that can remove TATA-binding protein (TBP) from DNA using ATP hydrolysis, and in so doing exerts global effects on transcription. Spt16 is also essential and functions globally in transcriptional regulation as a component of the FACT histone chaperone complex. Here we demonstrate that Mot1 and Spt16 regulate a largely overlapping set of genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. As expected, Mot1 was found to control TBP levels at co-regulated promoters. In contrast, Spt16 did not affect TBP recruitment. Interestingly, Mot1 was required for Spt16 recruitment to co-activated promoters. In contrast, Spt16 levels in gene coding regions were unaffected by Mot1 as well as RNA polymerase II density. The co-localization of Mot1 and Spt16 at promoters and the broad overlap in the sets of genes they control is consistent with physical and genetic interactions between them. The data support a model in which these factors participate in a regulatory pathway in which Mot1 acts upstream of Spt16.