Ruler elements in chromatin remodelers set nucleosome array spacing and phasing

Arrays of regularly spaced nucleosomes dominate chromatin and are often phased by alignment to reference sites like active promoters. How the distances between nucleosomes (spacing), and between phasing sites and nucleosomes are determined remains unclear, and specifically, how ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers impact these features. Here, we used genome-wide reconstitution to probe how Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATP-dependent remodelers generate phased arrays of regularly spaced nucleosomes. We find that remodelers bear a functional element named the ‘ruler’ that determines spacing and phasing in a remodeler-specific way. We use structure-based mutagenesis to identify and tune the ruler element residing in the Nhp10 and Arp8 modules of the INO80 remodeler complex. Generally, we propose that a remodeler ruler regulates nucleosome sliding direction bias in response to (epi)genetic information. This finally conceptualizes how remodeler-mediated nucleosome dynamics determine stable steady-state nucleosome positioning relative to other nucleosomes, DNA bound factors, DNA ends and DNA sequence elements

Advances on the structure of the R2TP/Prefoldin-like complex

Cellular stability, assembly and activation of a growing list of macromolecular complexes require the action of HSP90 working in concert with the R2TP/Prefoldin-like (R2TP/PFDL) co-chaperone. RNA polymerase II, snoRNPs and complexes of PI3-kinase-like kinases, a family that includes the ATM, ATR, DNA-PKcs, TRAPP, SMG1 and mTOR proteins, are among the clients of the HSP90-R2TP system. Evidence links the R2TP/PFDL pathway with cancer, most likely because of the essential role in pathways commonly deregulated in cancer. R2TP forms the core of the co-cochaperone and orchestrates the recruitment of HSP90 and clients, whereas prefoldin and additional prefoldin-like proteins, including URI, associate with R2TP, but their function is still unclear. The mechanism by which R2TP/PFLD facilitates assembly and activation of such a variety of macromolecular complexes is poorly understood. Recent efforts in the structural characterization of R2TP have started to provide some mechanistic insights. We summarize recent structural findings, particularly how cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is contributing to our understanding of the architecture of the R2TP core complex. Structural differences discovered between yeast and human R2TP reveal unanticipated complexities of the metazoan R2TP complex, and opens new and interesting questions about how R2TP/PFLD works

Heterochromatin and the molecular mechanisms of 'parent-of-origin' effects in animals.

Twenty five years ago it was proposed that conserved components of constitutive heterochromatin assemble heterochromatinlike complexes in euchromatin and this could provide a general mechanism for regulating heritable (cell-to-cell) changes in gene expressibility. As a special case, differences in the assembly of heterochromatin-like complexes on homologous chromosomes might also regulate the parent-of-origin-dependent gene expression observed in placental mammals. Here, the progress made in the intervening period with emphasis on the role of heterochromatin and heterochromatin-like complexes in parent-of-origin effects in animals is reviewed

Structural basis for ATP-dependent chromatin remodelling by the INO80 complex

In the eukaryotic nucleus, DNA is packaged in the form of nucleosomes, each of which comprises about 147 base pairs of DNA wrapped around a histone protein octamer. The position and histone composition of nucleosomes is governed by ATP-dependent chromatin remodellers(1-3) such as the 15-subunit INO80 complex(4). INO80 regulates gene expression, DNA repair and replication by sliding nucleosomes, the exchange of histone H2A.Z with H2A, and the positioning of + 1 and - 1 nucleosomes at promoter DNA(5-8). The structures and mechanisms of these remodelling reactions are currently unknown. Here we report the cryo-electron microscopy structure of the evolutionarily conserved core of the INO80 complex from the fungus Chaetomium thermophilum bound to a nucleosome, at a global resolution of 4.3 angstrom and with major parts at 3.7 angstrom. The INO80 core cradles one entire gyre of the nucleosome through multivalent DNA and histone contacts. An Rvb1/Rvb2 AAA(+) ATPase heterohexamer is an assembly scaffold for the complex and acts as a 'stator' for the motor and nucleosome-gripping subunits. The Swi2/Snf2 ATPase motor binds to nucleosomal DNA at superhelical location -6, unwraps approximately 15 base pairs, disrupts the H2A-DNA contacts and is poised to pump entry DNA into the nucleosome. Arp5 and Ies6 bind superhelical locations -2 and -3 to act as a counter grip for the motor, on the other side of the H2A-H2B dimer. The Arp5 insertion domain forms a grappler element that binds the nucleosome dyad, connects the Arp5 actin-fold and entry DNA over a distance of about 90 A and packs against histone H2A-H2B near the 'acidic patch'. Our structure together with biochemical data(8) suggests a unified mechanism for nucleosome sliding and histone editing by INO80. The motor is part of a macromolecular ratchet, persistently pumping entry DNA across the H2A-H2B dimer against the Arp5 grip until a large nucleosome translocation step occurs. The transient exposure of H2A-H2B by motor activity as well as differential recognition of H2A.Z and H2A may regulate histone exchange

Solution structures of the two PBZ domains from human APLF and their interaction with poly(ADP-ribose).

Addition of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) is an important post-translational modification in higher eukaryotes. Several DNA repair and checkpoint proteins possess specific PAR-binding zinc-finger (PBZ) modules critical for function. Here, we present solution structures of the two PBZ modules of aprataxin and PNK-like factor (APLF), revealing a novel type of zinc finger. By combining in vivo PAR-binding data with NMR interaction data using PAR fragments, we propose a structural basis for PBZ-PAR recognition