Chromatin is partitioned on multiple length scales into subcompartments that differ from each other with respect to their molecular composition and biological function. It is a key question how these compartments can form even though diffusion constantly mixes the nuclear interior and rapidly balances concentration gradients of soluble nuclear components. Different biophysical concepts are currently used to explain the formation of "chromatin bodies" in a self-organizing manner and without consuming energy. They rationalize how soluble protein factors that are dissolved in the liquid nuclear phase, the nucleoplasm, bind and organize transcriptionally active or silenced chromatin domains. In addition to cooperative binding of proteins to a preformed chromatin structure, two different mechanisms for the formation of phase-separated chromatin subcompartments have been proposed. One is based on bridging proteins that cross-link polymer segments with particular properties. Bridging can induce a collapse of the nucleosome chain and associated factors into an ordered globular phase. The other mechanism is based on multivalent interactions among soluble molecules that bind to chromatin. These interactions can induce liquid-liquid phase separation, which drives the assembly of liquid-like nuclear bodies around the respective binding sites on chromatin. Both phase separation mechanisms can explain that chromatin bodies are dynamic spherical structures, which can coalesce and are in constant and rapid exchange with the surrounding nucleoplasm. However, they make distinct predictions about how the size, density, and stability of chromatin bodies depends on the concentration and interaction behavior of the molecules involved. Here, we compare the different biophysical mechanisms for the assembly of chromatin bodies and discuss experimental strategies to distinguish them from each other. Furthermore, we outline the implications for the establishment and memory of functional chromatin state patterns.

Summary DNA damage is linked to multiple human diseases, such as cancer, neurodegeneration and senescence. Little is known about the role of chromatin accessibility in DNA repair. Here, we find that the histone deacetylase SIRT6 is one of the earliest factors recruited to sites of Double-Strand Breaks (DSBs). SIRT6 recruits the ISWI-chromatin remodeler SNF2H to DSBs, and deacetylates focally histone H3K56. Lack of SIRT6 and SNF2H impairs chromatin remodeling, increasing sensitivity to genotoxic damage and recruitment of downstream factors, such as 53BP1, BRCA1 and RPA. Remarkably, SIRT6 deficient mice exhibit lower levels of chromatin-associated SNF2H in specific tissues, a phenotype accompanied by increased DNA damage. We demonstrate that SIRT6 is critical for recruitment of a chromatin remodeler as an early step in the DNA damage response, indicating that proper unfolding of chromatin plays a rate-limiting role. We present a novel crosstalk between a histone modifier and a chromatin remodeler, regulating a coordinated response to prevent DNA damage.

Highlights d HP1 has only a weak capacity to form droplets in living cells d Size, accessibility, and compaction of heterochromatin foci are independent of HP1 d Heterochromatin compaction is ''digital'' and can toggle between two distinct states d Methodological framework to assess hallmarks of phase separation in living cells

In living cells, most proteins diffuse over distances of micrometres within seconds. Protein translocation is constrained due to the cellular organization into subcompartments that impose diffusion barriers and guide enzymatic activities to their targets. Here, we introduce an approach to retrieve structural features from the scale-dependent mobility of green fluorescent protein monomer and multimers in human cells. We measure protein transport simultaneously between hundreds of positions by multi-scale fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy using a line-illuminating confocal microscope. From these data we derive a quantitative model of the intracellular architecture that resembles a random obstacle network for diffusing proteins. This topology partitions the cellular content and increases the dwell time of proteins in their local environment. The accessibility of obstacle surfaces depends on protein size. Our method links multi-scale mobility measurements with a quantitative description of intracellular structure that can be applied to evaluate how drug-induced perturbations affect protein transport and interactions.

Chromatin remodeling complexes can translocate nucleosomes along the DNA in an ATP-dependent manner. Here, we studied autofluorescent protein constructs of the human ISWI family members Snf2H, Snf2L, the catalytically inactive Snf2L+13 splice variant, and the accessory Acf1 subunit in living human and mouse cells by fluorescence microscopy/spectroscopy. Except for Snf2L, which was not detected in the U2OS cell line, the endogenous ISWI proteins were abundant at nuclear concentrations between 0.14 and 0.83 μM. A protein interaction analysis showed the association of multimeric Snf2H and Acf1 into a heterotetramer or higher-order ACF complex. During the G1/2 cell cycle phase, Snf2H and Snf2L displayed average residence times <150 ms in the chromatin-bound state. The comparison of active and inactive Snf2H/Snf2L indicated that an immobilized fraction potentially involved in active chromatin remodeling comprised only 1-3%. This fraction was largely increased at replication foci in S phase or at DNA repair sites. To rationalize these findings we propose that ISWI remodelers operate via a "continuous sampling" mechanism: The propensity of nucleosomes to be translocated is continuously tested in transient binding reactions. Most of these encounters are unproductive and efficient remodeling requires an increased binding affinity to chromatin. Due to the relatively high intranuclear remodeler concentrations cellular response times for repositioning a given nucleosome were calculated to be in the range of tens of seconds to minutes.nucleosome translocation | fluorescence recovery after photobleaching | fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

The cell establishes heritable patterns of active and silenced chromatin via interacting factors that set, remove, and read epigenetic marks. To understand how the underlying networks operate, we have dissected transcriptional silencing in pericentric heterochromatin (PCH) of mouse fibroblasts. We assembled a quantitative map for the abundance and interactions of 16 factors related to PCH in living cells and found that stably bound complexes of the histone methyltransferase SUV39H1/2 demarcate the PCH state. From the experimental data, we developed a predictive mathematical model that explains how chromatin-bound SUV39H1/2 complexes act as nucleation sites and propagate a spatially confined PCH domain with elevated histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation levels via chromatin dynamics. This “nucleation and looping” mechanism is particularly robust toward transient perturbations and stably maintains the PCH state. These features make it an attractive model for establishing functional epigenetic domains throughout the genome based on the localized immobilization of chromatin-modifying enzymes.

Heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) is a central factor in establishing and maintaining the repressive heterochromatin state. To elucidate its mobility and interactions, we conducted a comprehensive analysis on different time and length scales by fluorescence fluctuation microscopy in mouse cell lines. The local mobility of HP1alpha and HP1beta was investigated in densely packed pericentric heterochromatin foci and compared with other bona fide euchromatin regions of the nucleus by fluorescence bleaching and correlation methods. A quantitative description of HP1alpha/beta in terms of its concentration, diffusion coefficient, kinetic binding, and dissociation rate constants was derived. Three distinct classes of chromatin-binding sites with average residence times t(res)

Histone modifications can redistribute along the genome in a sequenceindependent manner, giving rise to chromatin position effects and epigenetic memory. The underlying mechanisms shape the endogenous chromatin landscape and determine its response to ectopically targeted histone modifiers. Here, we simulate linear and loopingdriven spreading of histone modifications and compare both models to recent experiments on histone methylation in fission yeast. We find that a generalized nucleation-and-looping mechanism describes key observations on engineered and endogenous methylation domains including intrinsic spatial confinement, independent regulation of domain size and memory, variegation in the absence of antagonists, and coexistence of short-and long-term memory at loci with weak and strong constitutive nucleation. These findings support a straightforward relationship between the biochemical properties of chromatin modifiers and the spatiotemporal modification pattern. The proposed mechanism gives rise to a phase diagram for cellular memory that may be generally applicable to explain epigenetic phenomena across different species.epigenetic memory | heterochromatin | epigenome editing | histone modification | stochastic simulation H istone posttranslational modifications regulate cellular processes including gene expression, DNA replication, and DNA repair (1, 2). Some of these modifications can spread along the genome independently of the underlying DNA sequence, forming extended domains of modified histones. Well-known examples are di/trimethylation of histone 3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me2/3) and at lysine 27 (H3K27me2/3), which are enriched in heterochromatin and play a role in gene silencing (3-5). H3K9me2/3 can spread around centromeres (6) and telomeres (7), and H3K27me2/3 can spread around dedicated response elements within the genome (8, 9), causing socalled chromatin position effects by repressing genes within the methylated domains (7, 10, 11). The enzymes that are responsible for heterochromatic H3K9me2/3 are Clr4 in fission yeast and Suv39h in metazoans, and the PRC2 complex catalyzes H3K27me2/3 (12). By stably tethering these enzymes to chromatin, extended engineered domains enriched for the respective modification can be formed (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). Furthermore, both modifications can confer epigenetic memory at least across several cell divisions (14)(15)(16)(17)21).Aberrations in histone modification patterns and the responsible enzymes are involved in several diseases, including cancer (22, 23). It has recently become possible to recruit histone-modifying enzymes to endogenous target sites, e.g., by using the CRISPR-Cas9 system, thereby eliciting programmed changes to histone modifications and triggering specific position effects (24,25). Due to the functional relevance of the chromatin landscape, this technique holds promise for future clinical applications (26,27). Therefore, it is particularly important to understand if and how far modifications can spread and how long engineered domains a...