Stable, epigenetic inactivation of gene expression by silencing complexes involves a specialized heterochromatin structure, but the kinetics and pathway by which euchromatin is converted to the stable heterochromatin state are poorly understood. Induction of heterochromatin in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by expression of the silencing protein Sir3 results in rapid loss of histone acetylation, whereas removal of euchromatic histone methylation occurs gradually through several cell generations. Unexpectedly, Sir3 binding and the degree of transcriptional repression gradually increase for 3-5 cell generations, even though the intracellular level of Sir3 remains constant. Strains lacking Sas2 histone acetylase or the histone methylases that modify lysines 4 (Set1) or 79 (Dot1) of H3 display accelerated Sir3 accumulation at HMR or its spreading away from the telomere, suggesting that these histone modifications exert distinct inhibitory effects on heterochromatin formation. These findings suggest an ordered pathway of heterochromatin assembly, consisting of an early phase, driven by active enzymatic removal of histone acetylation and resulting in incomplete transcriptional silencing, followed by a slower maturation phase, in which gradual loss of histone methylation enhances Sir association and silencing. Thus, the transition between euchromatin and heterochromatin is gradual and requires multiple cell division cycles.

DNA-binding activators and repressors recruit histone acetylases and deacetylases to promoters, thereby generating localized domains of modified histones that influence transcriptional activity. At the end of a transcriptional response, alterations in histone acetylation status are reversed, but the dynamics of this process are poorly understood. Here, we recruit histone deacetylases and acetylases to a well-defined yeast promoter in a regulated manner. Following dissociation of the recruiting protein from the promoter, targeted deacetylation and acetylation are reversed with rapid, yet distinct, kinetics. Reversal of targeted deacetylation occurs within 5-8 min, whereas reversal of targeted acetylation is more rapid, taking 1.5 min. These findings imply that untargeted, globally acting enzymes generate a highly dynamic equilibrium of histone acetylation and deacetylation reactions across chromatin. Targeted acetylases and deacetylases can locally perturb this equilibrium, yet once they are removed, the global activities mediate a rapid return to the steady-state level of histone acetylation. Our results also indicate that TBP occupancy depends on the presence of the activator, not histone acetylation status.

Nucleosome deposition occurs on newly synthesized DNA during DNA replication and on transcriptionally active genes via nucleosome-remodeling complexes recruited by activator proteins and elongating RNA polymerase II. It has been long believed that histone deposition involves stable H3-H4 tetramers, such that newly deposited nucleosomes do not contain H3 and H4 molecules with their associated histone modifications from preexisting nucleosomes. However, biochemical analyses and recent experiments in mammalian cells have raised the idea that preexisting H3-H4 tetramers might split into dimers, resulting in mixed nucleosomes composed of "old" and "new" histones. It is unknown to what extent different genomic loci might utilize such a mechanism and under which circumstances. Here, we address whether tetramer splitting occurs in a locus-specific manner by using sequential chromatin immunoprecipitation of mononucleosomes from yeast cells containing two differentially tagged versions of H3 that are expressed "old" and "new" histones. At many genomic loci, we observe little or no nucleosomal cooccupancy of old and new H3, indicating that tetramer splitting is generally infrequent. However, cooccupancy is detected at highly active genes, which have a high rate of histone exchange. Thus, DNA replication largely results in nucleosomes bearing exclusively old or new H3-H4, thereby precluding the acquisition of new histone modifications based on preexisting modifications within the same nucleosome. In contrast, tetramer splitting, dimer exchange, and nucleosomes with mixed H3-H4 tetramers occur at highly active genes, presumably linked to rapid histone exchange associated with robust transcription.T he packaging of eukaryotic DNA into chromatin influences many DNA-associated processes, including transcriptional regulation. Within the chromatin fiber, each basic nucleosome unit bears important chemical and structural information. The mechanisms by which nucleosomes are assembled on DNA during replication, transcription, DNA repair, etc., can thus impact not only the integrity of chromatin structure but also patterns of gene expression and epigenetic inheritance. The H3-H4 tetramer core of each nucleosome is the more stable component and contains most of the relatively persistent and functionally important histone methylation marks. Much attention has therefore been given to the questions of how the H3-H4 tetramers are formed and maintained on chromatin.Early studies attempted to distinguish between a conservative assembly model, by which old and new histones form separate tetramers on replicating DNA, and a semiconservative assembly mechanism, by which existing tetramers are split into H3-H4 dimers, followed by association of new H3-H4 dimers to complete each nucleosome core (1-3). In the semiconservative model, the resulting tetramers would bear a mixture of old and new histones, allowing transmission of epigenetic information within the basic nucleosome unit. Though mechanistically attractive, the mixed tetramer model receiv...

The transcription of various viral and cellular genes is regulated by palindromic and nonpalindromic DNA sites resembling the EP element of the hepatitis B virus enhancer, which generate similar DNA-protein complexes. The upper EP complex contains homodimers of the transcription regulator RFX1. We show that RFX1 possesses a split, extended dimerization domain composed of several evolutionarily conserved boxes, one of which was previously shown to mediate dimerization. Such an unusually long and complex dimerization domain could potentially serve for generating multiple complexes. In addition to the previously characterized complex, RFX1 generated a novel DNA-protein complex of extremely low mobility, formed only with palindromic DNA sites. Different deletions within the dimerization domain altered the relative abundance of the two complexes, suggesting an interplay between them. Formation of the low mobility complex correlated with transcriptional repression, in that both activities were mediated by several portions of the conserved region. Our results propose a mechanism by which the extended dimerization domain mediates the formation of alternative homodimeric complexes, which differ in the nature of the intersubunit interaction. By participating in different types of interactions, this domain may regulate the relative abundance of the different complexes, thus affecting transcriptional activity.EP is a regulatory element found in several viral enhancers, such as those of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), 1 polyomavirus, and equine infectious anemia virus (1-5). EP-homologous sites are also present in cellular genes, including the MIF-1 binding site (MIE) in the first intron of the human c-myc gene (6, 7), the X box of MHC class II promoters (8, 9), the ␣ element in the mouse rpL30 ribosomal protein gene promoter (10, 11), and a binding site in the proliferating cell nuclear antigen promoter (12, 13). These different sites can be divided into two major groups. One group includes palindromic or partially palindromic sites, such as the EP elements of the HBV and polyomavirus enhancers. Members of the other group, e.g. the MHC promoter X box, are nonpalindromic and contain only a single EP-homologous half-site. While the EP elements of the HBV and polyomavirus enhancers, as well as the X box and rpL30␣ element, are positively acting sites within their natural DNA context (3, 4, 8 -10, 14 -17), a multimerized EP site cannot stimulate transcription significantly (4). Moreover, EP and MIE multimers can silence transcription (Refs. 18 -20), 2 demonstrating that the activity of EP is context-dependent.The EP element is bound by a ubiquitous nuclear protein complex, generating a typical pattern of several slowly migrating bands in gel shift essays (1-4). These EP complexes were independently characterized by several groups studying seemingly unrelated DNA-binding factors, which were later found to represent the same nuclear complex, referred to as EP, EF-C, MDBP, MIF, or 7,8,19,[21][22][23]. The EP complex contains homo-and...

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