Nucleosomes articles from across Nature Portfolio

Cryo-electron microscopy structures of human RAD51 in complex with the nucleosome show that RAD51 can adopt two conformations—rings and filaments—and reveal how RAD51 binds to the nucleosome through its N-terminal lobe domain.

Trypanosoma brucei DOT1A and DOT1B methylate H3K76 without H2B-ubiquitin. Based on structural and enzymatic data, Frisbie et al. reveal a mechanism of how these enzymes cooperatively and efficiently tri-methylate H3K76 in a ubiquitin-independent way.

JADE is a subunit of human acetyltransferase complex HBO1 that is essential in transcriptional regulation. Gaurav et al. characterize the molecular mechanism by which JADE mediates genomic association and enzymatic and pathological activities of the HBO1 complex.

Structures of the yeast replisome associated with the FACT complex and an evicted histone hexamer offer insights into the mechanism of replication-coupled histone recycling for maintaining epigenetic inheritance.

The authors determined a cryo-EM structure of the pioneer factor NR5A2 bound to a nucleosome. NR5A2 releases nucleosomal DNA from histones by DNA minor anchor groove competition, providing a mechanism for pioneer factor activity during reprogramming

Structural and biochemical studies show PU.1 facilitates C/EBPa binding to the CX3CR1 nucleosome by interacting with histone H2A and shifting the DNA position, leading to unwrapping of nucleosomal DNA and opening of the H1-condensed nucleosome array.

Pioneer transcription factors access gene regulatory sites embedded within chromatin. They drive gene expression programs vital for cell fate decisions and cellular reprogramming, but how they engage nucleosomal sites at the molecular level is unclear. New results show that they engage histones and collaborate to overcome the nucleosome barrier.

Substrate–inhibitor conjugation facilitates structural determination of the KDM2A/B-nucleosome complexes, which provides mechanistic insights into the nucleosomal H3K36 demethylation by KDM2A/B and reveals a paralog-specific nucleosome acidic patch recognition mechanism mediated by the N terminus of KDM2A but not KDM2B.

DiMeLo-seq leverages immunotethered DNA methyltransferases with long-read sequencing to map the locations of chromatin proteins in their natural context.

High-throughput biochemical and biological analyses of disease-associated histone mutations reveal key residues in globular cores that affect chromatin remodeling, nucleosome stability, and stem cell pluripotency.

Loop-seq is a high-throughput sequencing assay that measures DNA looping and can help explain how DNA bendability contributes to nucleosome organization.