Genomic Profiling of HMGN1 Reveals an Association with Chromatin at Regulatory Regions
MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY
Authors: Cuddapah, Suresh; Schones, Dustin E.; Cui, Kairong; Roh, Tae-Young; Barski, Artem; Wei, Gang; Rochman, Mark; Bustin, Michael; Zhao, Keji
Abstract
The interaction of architectural proteins such as the linker histone H1 and high-mobility-group (HMG) proteins with nucleosomes leads to changes in chromatin structure and histone modifications and alters the cellular transcription profile. The interaction of HMG proteins with chromatin is dynamic. However, it is not clear whether the proteins are constantly and randomly redistributed among all the nucleosomes or whether they preferentially associate with, and turn over at, specific regions in chromatin. To address this question, we examined the genome-wide distribution of the nucleosome binding protein HMGN1 and compared it to that of regulatory chromatin marks. We find that HMGN1 is not randomly distributed throughout the genome. Instead, the protein preferentially localizes to DNase I hypersensitive (HS) sites, promoters, functional enhancers, and transcription factor binding sites. Our results suggest that HMGN1 is part of the cellular machinery that modulates transcriptional fidelity by generating, maintaining, or preferentially interacting with specific sites in chromatin.
E2F1 Coregulates Cell Cycle Genes and Chromatin Components during the Transition of Oligodendrocyte Progenitors from Proliferation to Differentiation
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Authors: Magri, Laura; Swiss, Victoria A.; Jablonska, Beata; Lei, Liang; Pedre, Xiomara; Walsh, Martin; Zhang, Weijia; Gallo, Vittorio; Canoll, Peter; Casaccia, Patrizia
Abstract
Cell cycle exit is an obligatory step for the differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) into myelinating cells. A key regulator of the transition from proliferation to quiescence is the E2F/Rb pathway, whose activity is highly regulated in physiological conditions and deregulated in tumors. In this paper we report a lineage-specific decline of nuclear E2F1 during differentiation of rodent OPC into oligodendrocytes (OLs) in developing white matter tracts and in cultured cells. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and deep-sequencing in mouse and rat OPCs, we identified cell cycle genes (i.e., Cdc2) and chromatin components (i.e., Hmgn1, Hmgn2), including those modulating DNA methylation (i.e., Uhrf1), as E2F1 targets. Binding of E2F1 to chromatin on the gene targets was validated and their expression assessed in developing white matter tracts and cultured OPCs. Increased expression of E2F1 gene targets was also detected in mouse gliomas (that were induced by retroviral transformation of OPCs) compared with normal brain. Together, these data identify E2F1 as a key transcription factor modulating the expression of chromatin components in OPC during the transition from proliferation to differentiation.