Chromatin articles within Nature

Featured

  • Article |

    Depletion of chromosome-associated cohesin leads to loss of topologically associating domains in interphase chromosomes, without affecting segregation into compartments, and instead, it unmasks a finer compartment structure that reflects local chromatin and transcriptional activity.

    • Wibke Schwarzer
    • , Nezar Abdennur
    •  & Francois Spitz

  • Letter |

    Crystal structures of the Polycomb-like proteins PHF1 and MTF2 with bound DNA and histone peptides show that extended homologous regions of the two proteins form a winged-helix structure that has an unexpected mechanism of binding to unmethylated CpG-containing DNA motifs.

    • Haojie Li
    • , Robert Liefke
    •  & Zhanxin Wang

  • Article |

    Transcription of Drosophila PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) clusters is enforced through RNA polymerase II pre-initiation complex formation within repressive heterochromatin, accomplished through the transcription factor IIA subunit paralogue Moonshiner.

    • Peter Refsing Andersen
    • , Laszlo Tirian
    •  & Julius Brennecke

  • Brief Communications Arising |

    • Simon J. Elsässer
    • , Kyung-Min Noh
    •  & Laura A. Banaszynski

  • Letter |

    HP1a can nucleate into foci that display liquid properties during the early stages of heterochromatin domain formation in Drosophila embryos, suggesting that the repressive action of heterochromatin may be mediated in part by emergent properties of phase separation.

    • Amy R. Strom
    • , Alexander V. Emelyanov
    •  & Gary H. Karpen

  • Article |

    A chromosome conformation capture method in which single cells are first imaged and then processed enables intact genome folding to be studied at a scale of 100 kb, validated, and analysed to generate hypotheses about 3D genomic interactions and organisation.

    • Tim J. Stevens
    • , David Lando
    •  & Ernest D. Laue

  • Article |

    A technique called genome architecture mapping (GAM) involves sequencing DNA from a large number of thin nuclear cryosections to develop a map of genome organization without the limitations of existing 3C-based methods.

    • Robert A. Beagrie
    • , Antonio Scialdone
    •  & Ana Pombo

  • Letter |

    The observations that introns are acquired in bursts and that exons are often nucleosome-sized can be explained by the generation of introns from DNA transposons, which insert between nucleosomes.

    • Jason T. Huff
    • , Daniel Zilberman
    •  & Scott W. Roy

  • Letter |

    Genomic duplications in the SOX9 region are associated with human disease phenotypes; a study using human cells and mouse models reveals that the duplications can cause the formation of new higher-order chromatin structures called topologically associated domains (TADs) thereby resulting in changes in gene expression.

    • Martin Franke
    • , Daniel M. Ibrahim
    •  & Stefan Mundlos

  • Letter |

    Three papers in this issue of Nature use highly sensitive ChIP–seq assays to describe the dynamic patterns of histone modifications during early mouse embryogenesis, showing that oocytes have a distinctive epigenome and providing insights into how the maternal gene expression program transitions to the zygotic program.

    • Bingjie Zhang
    • , Hui Zheng
    •  & Wei Xie

  • Letter |

    Three papers in this issue of Nature use highly sensitive ChIP–seq assays to describe the dynamic patterns of histone modifications during early mouse embryogenesis, showing that oocytes have a distinctive epigenome and providing insights into how the maternal gene expression program transitions to the zygotic program.

    • John Arne Dahl
    • , Inkyung Jung
    •  & Arne Klungland

  • Letter |

    Three papers in this issue of Nature use highly sensitive ChIP–seq assays to describe the dynamic patterns of histone modifications during early mouse embryogenesis, showing that oocytes have a distinctive epigenome and providing insights into how the maternal gene expression program transitions to the zygotic program.

    • Xiaoyu Liu
    • , Chenfei Wang
    •  & Shaorong Gao

  • Letter |

    A cryo-electron microscopy structure of the DNA damage repair protein 53BP1 bound to a nucleosome illuminates the way 53BP1 recognizes two types of histone modifications (a methyl group and a ubiquitin moiety), and provides insight into the highly specified recognition and recruitment of 53BP1 to modified chromatin.

    • Marcus D. Wilson
    • , Samir Benlekbir
    •  & Daniel Durocher

  • Letter |

    We have a limited understanding of how cells mark and identify newly replicated genomic loci that have a sister chromatid; here, unmethylated K20 in the tail of new histone H4 is shown to serve as a signature of post-replicative chromatin, which is specifically recognized by the homologous recombination complex TONSL–MMS22L.

    • Giulia Saredi
    • , Hongda Huang
    •  & Anja Groth

  • Article |

    An improved ATAC-seq approach is used to describe a genome-wide view of accessible chromatin and cis-regulatory elements in mouse preimplantation embryos, allowing construction of a regulatory network of early development that helps to identify key modulators of lineage specification.

    • Jingyi Wu
    • , Bo Huang
    •  & Wei Xie

  • Letter |

    An investigation into the nuclear events involved in autophagy regulation identifies the histone arginine methyltransferase CARM1 as a transcriptional co-activator of transcription factor TFEB; CARM1 levels are decreased by the SKP2-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase and increased during autophagy induction after nutrient starvation.

    • Hi-Jai R. Shin
    • , Hyunkyung Kim
    •  & Sung Hee Baek

  • Letter |

    A co-repressor protein, CBFA2T2, oligomerizes to stabilize its binding partner PRDM14 and the pluripotency factor OCT4 on chromatin, thus facilitating the transcriptional landscape underpinning the germline and pluripotent fate.

    • Shengjiang Tu
    • , Varun Narendra
    •  & Danny Reinberg

  • Article |

    Crystal structures of the SET domains of MLL3 and a mutant MLL1 either unbound or complexed with domains from RBBP5 and ASH2L are determined; a combination of structural, biochemical and computational analyses reveals a two-step activation mechanism of MLL family proteins, which may be relevant for other histone methyltransferases.

    • Yanjing Li
    • , Jianming Han
    •  & Ming Lei

  • Letter |

    Genome-wide binding profiles for eight different chromatin remodellers in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells are determined at single nucleosome resolution; each remodeller binds at specific nucleosome positions relative to the start of genes, and the same remodeller acts as a positive or negative regulator of transcription depending on the promoter chromatin organization and epigenetic marking of the gene it binds.

    • Maud de Dieuleveult
    • , Kuangyu Yen
    •  & Matthieu Gérard

  • Letter |

    Using super-resolution imaging to directly observe the three-dimensional organization of Drosophila chromatin at a scale spanning sizes from individual genes to entire gene regulatory domains, the authors find that transcriptionally active, inactive and Polycomb-repressed chromatin states each have a distinct spatial organisation.

    • Alistair N. Boettiger
    • , Bogdan Bintu
    •  & Xiaowei Zhuang

  • Letter |

    BET inhibitors that target bromodomain chromatin readers such as BRD4 are being explored as potential therapeutics in cancer; here triple-negative breast cancer cell lines are shown to respond to BET inhibitors and resistance seems to be associated with transcriptional changes rather than drug efflux and mutations, opening potential avenues to improve clinical responses to BET inhibitors.

    • Shaokun Shu
    • , Charles Y. Lin
    •  & Kornelia Polyak

  • Letter |

    The relationship between DNA methylation and transcription factor binding was studied across the genome in mouse embryonic stem cells-the study reveals that the transcription factor NRF1 is methylation-sensitive and how physiological binding of NRF1 relies on local removal of DNA methylation.

    • Silvia Domcke
    • , Anaïs Flore Bardet
    •  & Dirk Schübeler

  • Letter |

    In response to cancer-associated stress, autophagy machinery mediates degradation of nuclear lamina components in mammals, suggesting that cells might degrade nuclear components to prevent tumorigenesis.

    • Zhixun Dou
    • , Caiyue Xu
    •  & Shelley L. Berger

  • Letter |

    BET inhibitors that target bromodomain chromatin readers such as BRD4 are being explored as potential therapeutics in cancer; here, in a MLL–AF9 mouse leukaemia model, resistance to BET inhibitors is shown to emerge from leukaemia stem cells, and be partly due to increased Wnt/β-catenin signalling.

    • Chun Yew Fong
    • , Omer Gilan
    •  & Mark A. Dawson

  • Letter |

    BET bromodomain inhibitors are being explored as potential therapeutics in cancer; here, AML cells are shown to evade sensitivity to BET inhibition through rewiring the transcriptional regulation of BRD4 target genes such as MYC in a process that is facilitated by suppression of PRC2 and WNT signalling activation.

    • Philipp Rathert
    • , Mareike Roth
    •  & Johannes Zuber

  • Article |

    A ChIP-seq analysis of the DNA-binding properties of mutant gain-of-function p53 protein compared to wild-type p53 reveals the gain-of-function proteins bind to and activate a distinct set of genes including chromatin modifying enzymes such as the histone methyltransferase MLL; small molecular inhibitors of MLL function may represent a new target for cancers with mutant p53.

    • Jiajun Zhu
    • , Morgan A. Sammons
    •  & Shelley L. Berger

  • Letter |

    A single-cell method for probing genome-wide chromatin accessibility has been developed; the results provide insight into the relationship between cell-to-cell variation associated with specific trans-factors and cis-elements, as well insights into the relationship between chromatin accessibility and three-dimensional genome organization.

    • Jason D. Buenrostro
    • , Beijing Wu
    •  & William J. Greenleaf

  • Letter |

    Retroviruses such as HIV rely on the intasome, a tetramer of integrase protein bound to the viral DNA ends interacting with host chromatin, for integration into the host genome; the structure of the intasome as it interacts with a nucleosome is now solved, giving insight into the integration process.

    • Daniel P. Maskell
    • , Ludovic Renault
    •  & Peter Cherepanov

  • Letter |

    The mechanisms by which Xist, a long non-coding RNA, silences one X chromosome in female mammals are unknown; here a mass spectrometry-based approach is developed to identify several proteins that interact directly with Xist, including the transcriptional repressor SHARP that is required for transcriptional silencing through the histone deacetylase HDAC3.

    • Colleen A. McHugh
    • , Chun-Kan Chen
    •  & Mitchell Guttman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lineage-specific transcription factors and signalling pathways cooperate with pluripotency regulators to control the transcriptional networks that drive cell specification and exit from an embryonic stem cell state; here, we report genome-wide binding data for 38 transcription factors combined with analysis of epigenomic and gene expression data during the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into the three germ layers.

    • Alexander M. Tsankov
    • , Hongcang Gu
    •  & Alexander Meissner

  • Letter |

    DEAD-box RNA helicase DDX21 is involved in both the transcription and RNA processing of ribosomal genes in human cells, sensing the transcriptional status of both RNA polymerase I and RNA polymerase II and associating with non-coding RNAs involved in ribonucleoprotein formation, possibly allowing for coordinated regulation of protein synthesis.

    • Eliezer Calo
    • , Ryan A. Flynn
    •  & Joanna Wysocka

  • Article |

    Whole-exome sequencing in a large autism study identifies over 100 autosomal genes that are likely to affect risk for the disorder; these genes, which show unusual evolutionary constraint against mutations, carry de novo loss-of-function mutations in over 5% of autistic subjects and many function in synaptic, transcriptional and chromatin-remodelling pathways.

    • Silvia De Rubeis
    • , Xin He
    •  & Joseph D. Buxbaum

  • Article |

    The crystal structure of the PRC1 ubiquitylation module bound to its nucleosome core substrate is determined, revealing how a histone-modifying enzyme achieves substrate specificity by recognizing nucleosome surfaces distinct from the site of catalysis, and uncovering a unique role for the ubiquitin E2 enzyme in substrate recognition.

    • Robert K. McGinty
    • , Ryan C. Henrici
    •  & Song Tan

Browse broader subjects

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Chromatin across other nature.com journals