Article
- The EMBO Journal (2000) 19, 1023 - 1033
- doi:10.1093/emboj/19.5.1023
Hormone activation induces nucleosome positioning in vivo
Sergey Belikov1,2, Birgitta Gelius1, Geneviève Almouzni3 and Örjan Wrange1
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Medical Nobel Institute, Karolinska Institutet, SE-17177 Stockholm, Sweden
- W.A.Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117984, Russia
- Dynamique de la Chromatine, UMR 218 CNRS, Institute Curie, FR-75231 Paris, Cedex 05, France
Correspondence to:
Örjan Wrange, E-mail: orjan.wrange@cmb.ki.se
Received 1 November 1999; Accepted 13 January 2000; Revised 13 January 2000
Abstract
The mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) promoter is induced by glucocorticoid hormone. A robust hormone- and receptor-dependent activation could be reproduced in Xenopus laevis oocytes. The homogeneous response in this system allowed a detailed analysis of the transition in chromatin structure following hormone activation. This revealed two novel findings: hormone activation led to the establishment of specific translational positioning of nucleosomes despite the lack of significant positioning in the inactive state; and, in the active promoter, a subnucleosomal particle encompassing the glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-binding region was detected. The presence of only a single GR-binding site was sufficient for the structural transition to occur. Both basal promoter elements and ongoing transcription were dispensable. These data reveal a stepwise process in the transcriptional activation by glucocorticoid hormone.
Keywords:
- chromatin structure,
- glucocorticoid receptor,
- MMTV promoter,
- nucleosome positioning,
- Xenopus oocyte
