Project description:Proof-of-concept for Mnase-SSP: a variant of Mnase-seq. Mnase-SSP dramatically increases the representation of short fragments of nucleolytically-digested DNA, enabling simultaneous analysis of transcription factor binding and nucleosome occupancy using the same assay. We used MNase-SSP to demarcate chromatin architecture at murine promoters and at transcription factor binding sites in murine embryonic stem cells. Are results reveal heterogeneity in the binding mode of C2H2 zinc fingers like Ctcf and Rest, demonstrating that Mnase-SSP, and SSP in general, as a flexible platform for profiling nucleolytically digested DNA for MNase-seq, MNase-ChIP, or CUT&RUN with reduced bias.
Project description:Here we attempt to describe the structure of Hs21 at high resolution using proximity ligation assays in combination with target enrichment in several conditions (yet to be determined). We will also generate additional epigenetic information that will help with the interpretation of the data.This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/
Project description:In higher eukaryotes, enhancers and promoters share many properties, including binding of transcription factors, existing in open chromatin, and bidirectional transcription. Yet the structural features that distinguish enhancers and promoters are unclear. Genome-wide micrococcal nuclease (MNase) studies previously interpreted MNase hypersensitivity to indicate that active enhancers and promoters are nucleosome-free, yet other studies found histone variants and post-translational modifications at active enhancers. We find that prior MNase genomic studies have an overdigestion bias and that low-level MNase digestion, coupled with mapping core histones, reveals two classes of MNase-hypersensitive sites: at active promoters, which are nucleosome depleted, and at tissue-specific enhancers, which retain core histones and co-bound transcription factors substantially more than promoters. Hypersensitivity of active enhancer nucleosomes may reflect their preferential exposure in chromatin and can be maintained by pioneer transcription factors such as FoxA. These findings unveil fundamental differences in the chromatin structure of active enhancers and promoters.
Project description:Understanding how chromatin structure affects cellular functions such as transcription and replication in human cells has been limited by a lack of sufficient nucleosome positioning data. We describe a high-resolution microarray approach combined with a novel analysis algorithm to examine the translational nucleosome positions in 3,692 promoters within seven human cell lines. Unlike unexpressed genes without transcription pre-initiation complexes at their promoters, expressed genes or genes containing pre-initiation complexes exhibit characteristic nucleosome-free regions at their transcription start sites. Coupling these data to ChIP-chip analyses reveals that the melanocyte master transcriptional regulator MITF binds predominantly to nucleosome-free regions, supporting the model that nucleosomes limit sequence accessibility. This study thus presents the first global view of human nucleosome positioning and provides a high-throughput tool for analyzing chromatin structure in development and disease. Keywords: Nucleosome positions, MNase digestion, cell type comparison
Project description:Faithful DNA replication is essential for normal cell division and differentiation. In eukaryotic cells, DNA replication takes place on chromatin. This poses the critical question as to how DNA replication can progress through chromatin, which is inhibitory to all DNA-dependent processes. Here, we have developed a novel genome-wide method to measure chromatin accessibility to micrococcal nuclease that is normalized for nucleosome density, NCAM (Normalized Chromatin Accessibility to MNase) assay. This method enabled us to discover that chromatin accessibility increases specifically at and ahead of DNA replication forks in normal S phase and during replication stress. We further found that Mec1, a key regulatory ATR-like kinase in the S-phase checkpoint, is required for both normal chromatin accessibility around replication forks and replication fork rate during replication stress. In this study we sought to analyze the chromatin structural changes that take place at sites of DNA replication. To this end, we obtained yeast cell populations synchronously undergoing DNA replication by M-NM-1-factor G1 arrest and release. In order to analyze chromatin structure at sites of DNA replication we first mapped the genomic locations undergoing DNA replication to high-resolution, strand-specific microarrays tiling chromosomes III, VI, and XII, covering ~14% of the genome. Two complementary approaches were taken: (1) we mapped fork positions by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) of a FLAG-tagged DNA polymerase 1 (Pol1), a replication fork component and (2) we mapped the sites of active DNA synthesis by generating DNA copy number profiles. We then analyzed chromatin structure at the sites of DNA replication by Micrococcal nuclease mononucleosome mapping and by generating histone H3 density maps. We further generated a Normalized Chromatin Accessibility to MNase (NCAM) signal by normalizing MNase mononucleosome signal for histone H3 density. NCAM signal represents a measure of nucleosome accessibility to MNase that is normalized for nucleosome content. These three approaches allowed us to assess potential changes in nucleosome positioning, nucleosome density, and nucleosome accessibility during DNA replication. We searched for changes in chromatin structure by comparing, during S phase, regions undergoing DNA replication to those not yet replicated, and also by comparing the same region before replication (not replicated, G1 arrested control) and during DNA replication in S phase. We typically harvested S phase cells at 30 or 60 minutes after release from G1 arrest. Experimental conditions included releasing cells into rich media at 24M-BM-0C or into rich media containing 200 mM Hydroxyurea (HU). Both conditions slowed down replication fork rate and made these experiments feasible. For each strain, samples for the different experiments (Chromatin for Pol1 and H3 ChIP, in vivo MNase digestion, and DNA for DNA copy number profiles) were harvested simultaneously for each time point. Therefore, comparisons between time points for each strain must be made using samples from the same replicate experiment. Our analysis included WT cells, as well as S phase checkpoint mutants (M-NM-^Tmec1 M-NM-^Tsml1 and mec1-100 M-NM-^Tsml1), as well as control strains (M-NM-^Tsml1).
Project description:Nucleosome structure and positioning play pivotal roles in gene regulation, DNA repair and other essential processes in eukaryotic cells. Nucleosomal DNA is thought to be uniformly inaccessible to DNA binding and processing factors, such as MNase. Here, we show, however, that nucleosome accessibility and sensitivity to MNase varies. Digestion of Drosophila chromatin with two distinct concentrations of MNase revealed two types of nucleosomes: sensitive and resistant. MNase-resistant nucleosome arrays are less accessible to low concentrations of MNase, whereas MNase-sensitive arrays are degraded by high concentrations. MNase-resistant nucleosomes assemble on sequences depleted of A/T and enriched in G/C containing dinucleotides. In contrast, MNase-sensitive nucleosomes form on A/T rich sequences represented by transcription start and termination sites, enhancers and DNase hypersensitive sites. Lowering of cell growth temperature to ~10°C stabilizes MNase-sensitive nucleosomes suggesting that variations in sensitivity to MNase are related to either thermal fluctuations in chromatin fiber or the activity of enzymatic machinery. In the vicinity of active genes and DNase hypersensitive sites nucleosomes are organized into synchronous, periodic arrays. These patterns are likely to be caused by “phasing” nucleosomes off a potential barrier formed by DNA-bound factors and we provide an extensive biophysical framework to explain this effect. Mnase-seq, Mnase-ChIP-seq of Drosophila melanogaster embryo and S2 cells chromatin
Project description:Nucleosome structure and positioning play pivotal roles in gene regulation, DNA repair and other essential processes in eukaryotic cells. Nucleosomal DNA is thought to be uniformly inaccessible to DNA binding and processing factors, such as MNase. Here, we show, however, that nucleosome accessibility and sensitivity to MNase varies. Digestion of Drosophila chromatin with two distinct concentrations of MNase revealed two types of nucleosomes: sensitive and resistant. MNase-resistant nucleosome arrays are less accessible to low concentrations of MNase, whereas MNase-sensitive arrays are degraded by high concentrations. MNase-resistant nucleosomes assemble on sequences depleted of A/T and enriched in G/C containing dinucleotides. In contrast, MNase-sensitive nucleosomes form on A/T rich sequences represented by transcription start and termination sites, enhancers and DNase hypersensitive sites. Lowering of cell growth temperature to ~10°C stabilizes MNase-sensitive nucleosomes suggesting that variations in sensitivity to MNase are related to either thermal fluctuations in chromatin fiber or the activity of enzymatic machinery. In the vicinity of active genes and DNase hypersensitive sites nucleosomes are organized into synchronous, periodic arrays. These patterns are likely to be caused by “phasing” nucleosomes off a potential barrier formed by DNA-bound factors and we provide an extensive biophysical framework to explain this effect.
Project description:We have combined standard micrococcal (MNase) digestion of nuclei with a modified protocol for construction paired-end DNA sequencing libraries to map both nucleosomes and subnucleosome-sized particles at single base-pair resolution throughout the budding yeast genome. We found that partially unwrapped nucleosomes and subnucleosome-sized particles can occupy the same position within a cell population, suggesting dynamic behavior. By varying the time of MNase digestion, we have been able to observe changes that reflect differential sensitivity of particles, including eviction of nucleosomes. Our protocol and mapping method provide a general strategy for characterizing full epigenomes. We used micrococcal nuclease mapping, chromatin immunoprecipitation and paired-end sequencing to determine the structure of yeast centromeres at single base-pair resolution.
Project description:Nucleosome structure and positioning play pivotal roles in gene regulation, DNA repair and other essential processes in eukaryotic cells. Nucleosomal DNA is thought to be uniformly inaccessible to DNA binding and processing factors, such as MNase. Here, we show, however, that nucleosome accessibility and sensitivity to MNase varies. Digestion of Drosophila chromatin with two distinct concentrations of MNase revealed two types of nucleosomes: sensitive and resistant. MNase-resistant nucleosome arrays are less accessible to low concentrations of MNase, whereas MNase-sensitive arrays are degraded by high concentrations. MNase-resistant nucleosomes assemble on sequences depleted of A/T and enriched in G/C containing dinucleotides. In contrast, MNase-sensitive nucleosomes form on A/T rich sequences represented by transcription start and termination sites, enhancers and DNase hypersensitive sites. Lowering of cell growth temperature to ~10°C stabilizes MNase-sensitive nucleosomes suggesting that variations in sensitivity to MNase are related to either thermal fluctuations in chromatin fiber or the activity of enzymatic machinery. In the vicinity of active genes and DNase hypersensitive sites nucleosomes are organized into synchronous, periodic arrays. These patterns are likely to be caused by “phasing” nucleosomes off a potential barrier formed by DNA-bound factors and we provide an extensive biophysical framework to explain this effect. RNA-seq S2 cells Drosophila melanogaster