KAP1 is an antiparallel dimer with a functional asymmetry

KAP1 (KRAB domain-associated protein 1) plays a fundamental role in regulating gene expression in mammalian cells by recruiting different transcription factors and altering the chromatin state. In doing so, KAP1 acts both as a platform for macromolecular interactions and as an E3 small ubiquitin modifier ligase. This work sheds light on the overall organization of the full-length protein combining solution scattering data, integrative modeling, and single-molecule experiments. We show that KAP1 is an elongated antiparallel dimer with an asymmetry at the C-terminal domains. This conformation is consistent with the finding that the Really Interesting New Gene (RING) domain contributes to KAP1 auto-SUMOylation. Importantly, this intrinsic asymmetry has key functional implications for the KAP1 network of interactions, as the heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) occupies only one of the two putative HP1 binding sites on the KAP1 dimer, resulting in an unexpected stoichiometry, even in the context of chromatin fibers.

Structural and functional characterisation of the KRAB-domain associated protein 1

Giulia Fonti

KAP1 (KRAB-domain associated protein 1) plays a fundamental role in regulating gene expression in mammalian cells by recruiting different transcription factors and altering the chromatin state. In doing so, KAP1 acts both as a platform for macromolecular interactions and as an E3 SUMO ligase. This work sheds light on the overall organization of the full-length protein combining solution scattering data, integrative modeling and single-molecule experiments. We show that KAP1 is an elongated antiparallel dimer with an asymmetry at the C-terminal domains. This conformation is consistent with the finding that the RING domain contributes to KAP1 auto-SUMOylation. Importantly, this intrinsic asymmetry has key functional implications for the KAP1 network of interactions, as the heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) occupies only one of the two putative HP1 binding sites on the KAP1 dimer, resulting in an unexpected stoichiometry, even in the context of chromatin fibers.

EPFL2019

Nuclear Factor I genomic binding associates with chromatin boundaries

Giovanna Ambrosini, Philipp Bucher, Giovanni Dietler, Armelle Gaussin, Jan Kerschgens, Nicolas Mermod, Petar Pjanic

Background: The Nuclear Factor I (NFI) family of DNA binding proteins (also called CCAAT box transcription factors or CTF) is involved in both DNA replication and gene expression regulation. Using chromatin immuno-precipitation and high throughput sequencing (ChIP-Seq), we performed a genome-wide mapping of NFI DNA binding sites in primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Results: We found that in vivo and in vitro NFI DNA binding specificities are indistinguishable, as in vivo ChIP-Seq NFI binding sites matched predictions based on previously established position weight matrix models of its in vitro binding specificity. Combining ChIP-Seq with mRNA profiling data, we found that NFI preferentially associates with highly expressed genes that it up-regulates, while binding sites were under-represented at expressed but unregulated genes. Genomic binding also correlated with markers of transcribed genes such as histone modifications H3K4me3 and H3K36me3, even outside of annotated transcribed loci, implying NFI in the control of the deposition of these modifications. Positional correlation between + and - strand ChIP-Seq tags revealed that, in contrast to other transcription factors, NFI associates with a nucleosomal length of cleavage-resistant DNA, suggesting an interaction with positioned nucleosomes. In addition, NFI binding prominently occurred at boundaries displaying discontinuities in histone modifications specific of expressed and silent chromatin, such as loci submitted to parental allele-specific imprinted expression. Conclusions: Our data thus suggest that NFI nucleosomal interaction may contribute to the partitioning of distinct chromatin domains and to epigenetic gene expression regulation. NFI ChIP-Seq and input control DNA data were deposited at Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) repository under accession number GSE15844. Gene expression microarray data for mouse embryonic fibroblasts are on GEO accession number GSE15871.

BioMed Central2013

Rhythmic and clock-dependent chromatin loops regulate circadian gene expression

Jérôme Mermet

In mammals the circadian clock drives daily behavioural and physiological changes that resonate with environmental cues, which can be observed, for example, in the intricate timing of rest during the night and activity during the day in humans. The circadian clock consists of a network of hierarchical clocks in which the central pacemaker is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which is sensitive to external light and propagates time to the peripheral organ-based clocks. Within organs, clocks tick in each individual cell and are molecularly encoded in the genome as a network of dynamic feedback loops. By mediating the expression of the appropriate gene products at the correct moment of the day, the molecular clocks op-timize physiological functions of virtually every cell in our body, allowing us to synchronize with daily fluc-tuations in the environment. In mammalian cells the chromatin organization in the nucleus consists of a topological network, in which chromatin interactions between distal regulatory elements such as enhancers and target genes are essen-tial to regulate gene expression. Important questions remain: is the complex chromatin folding dynamic and if so on which genomic and temporal scales? In fact, dynamic rearrangements of the chromatin have been reported on multiple genomic and time scales, from the entire genome to enhancer-promoter con-tacts, across developmental transitions, cellular differentiation, and transcription cycles. With this per-spective in mind, the circadian oscillator provides a unique model to study the dynamics of genomic inter-actions in the context of fluctuating transcription. Here, we explored chromatin contacts of core-clock and clock-controlled gene promoters in the mouse. We aimed at evaluating the putative dynamics of chromatin contacts, at estimating their conservation across tissues, and at exploring the contribution of the circadian clock to this interaction network. To achieve this goal, we performed 4C-sequencing assays at two circadian time points in the liver and kidney of WT and clock-deficient animals. Overall, we observe that chromatin contacts are largely conserved across circadian time points and genetic backgrounds, and are tissue-specific. Our experiments reveal that the promoters of core-clock and clock-controlled genes contact distal genomic regions containing en-hancer chromatin signatures, suggesting a functional role of these distal sites in target gene regulation. Our data also suggest a clock-driven module of rhythmic genes that are colocalized in the nucleus. However, we also observe dynamic contacts between oscillating gene promoter and enhancer-like ge-nomic regions. In this thesis, we discuss in detail two examples of dynamic chromatin looping that are ob-served at the Cry1 and Gys2 loci. Our data reveal not only a dynamic coupling between the chromatin loop and the transcriptional state but also that the dynamic of chromatin looping depends on a functional clock. Furthermore, genome editing experiments using CRISPR-Cas9 tools reveal that the Cry1 distal site is essential for the transcriptional regulation of Cry1 and contributes to the circadian clock robustness both in-vivo and in cultured cells. These results demonstrate how local chromatin rearrangements take place in a 24-hour time-scale and set chromatin looping between gene promoters and distal regions as a new reg-ulatory layer for circadian gene expression.