Expression-Dependent Folding of Interphase Chromatin

Multiple studies suggest that chromatin looping might play a crucial role in organizing eukaryotic genomes. To investigate the interplay between the conformation of interphase chromatin and its transcriptional activity, we include information from gene expression profiles into a polymer model for chromatin that incorporates genomic loops. By relating loop formation to transcriptional activity, we are able to generate chromosome conformations whose structural and topological properties are consistent with experimental data. The model particularly allows to reproduce the conformational variations that are known to occur between highly and lowly expressed chromatin regions. As previously observed in experiments, lowly expressed regions of the simulated polymers are much more compact. Due to the changes in loop formation, the distributions of chromatin loops are also expression-dependent and exhibit a steeper decay in highly active regions. As a results of entropic interaction between differently looped parts of the chromosome, we observe topological alterations leading to a preferential positioning of highly transcribed loci closer to the surface of the chromosome territory. Considering the diffusional behavior of the chromatin fibre, the simulations furthermore show that the higher the expression level of specific parts of the chromatin fibre is, the more dynamic they are. The results exhibit that variations of loop formation along the chromatin fibre, and the entropic changes that come along with it, do not only influence the structural parameters on the local scale, but also effect the global chromosome conformation and topology

Structure-Function Studies of DNA Binding Domain of Response Regulator KdpE Reveals Equal Affinity Interactions at DNA Half-Sites

Expression of KdpFABC, a K+ pump that restores osmotic balance, is controlled by binding of the response regulator KdpE to a specific DNA sequence (kdpFABCBS) via the winged helix-turn-helix type DNA binding domain (KdpEDBD). Exploration of E. coli KdpEDBD and kdpFABCBS interaction resulted in the identification of two conserved, AT-rich 6 bp direct repeats that form half-sites. Despite binding to these half-sites, KdpEDBD was incapable of promoting gene expression in vivo. Structure-function studies guided by our 2.5 Å X-ray structure of KdpEDBD revealed the importance of residues R193 and R200 in the α-8 DNA recognition helix and T215 in the wing region for DNA binding. Mutation of these residues renders KdpE incapable of inducing expression of the kdpFABC operon. Detailed biophysical analysis of interactions using analytical ultracentrifugation revealed a 2∶1 stoichiometry of protein to DNA with dissociation constants of 200±100 and 350±100 nM at half-sites. Inactivation of one half-site does not influence binding at the other, indicating that KdpEDBD binds independently to the half-sites with approximately equal affinity and no discernable cooperativity. To our knowledge, these data are the first to describe in quantitative terms the binding at half-sites under equilibrium conditions for a member of the ubiquitous OmpR/PhoB family of proteins