[Attraction of Likenesses: Mechanisms of Self-Association and Compartmentalization of Eukaryotic Chromatin].

Chromatin packing in eukaryotic chromosomes has been traditionally viewed as a hierarchical process, in which nucleosome chains fold into helical chromatin fibers. These fibers would then fold into more complex regular structures. However, recent chromatin imaging studies and analyses of chromosomal DNA contacts within the 3D space of the cell nucleus have necessitated a radical revision of the hierarchical chromatin packing model. According to the new studies, the nucleosome chain has a free spatial configuration without regular helical fibers in most cell types. The overall 3D organization of DNA in the cell nucleus includes chromatin loops and contact domains of up to several million base pairs in size. During cell differentiation, individual structure-functional chromatin domains marked by similar types of histone modifications and functional states can merge together and form chromosomal subcompartments suited for local gene activation or repression. This "attraction of likenesses" may be mediated by direct self-association of nucleosome chains as well as by architectural chromatin proteins making oligomeric protein "bridges" between nucleosomes as well as larger dynamic condensates leading to liquid-liquid phase separation inside the cell nucleus. Future studies of mechanisms of chromatin self-association and compartmentalization will require a combination of molecular, imaging, and computational approaches capable of revealing the 3D organization of the eukaryotic genome with nucleosomal resolution.

Higher-order folding of heterochromatin: protein bridges span the nucleosome arrays.

In interphase eukaryotic nuclei, chromatin is divided into two morphologically distinct types known as heterochromatin and euchromatin. It has been long suggested that the two types of chromatin differ at the level of higher-order folding. Recent studies have revealed the features of chromatin 3D architecture that distinguish the higher-order folding of repressed and active chromatin and have identified chromosomal proteins and their modifications associated with these structural transitions. This review discusses the molecular and structural determinants of chromatin higher-order folding in relation to mechanism(s) of heterochromatin formation and genetic silencing during cell differentiation and tissue development.

The nature of the nucleosomal barrier to transcription: direct observation of paused intermediates by electron cryomicroscopy.

Transcribing SP6 RNA polymerase was arrested at unique positions in the nucleosome core, and the complexes were analyzed using biochemical methods and electron cryomicroscopy. As the polymerase enters the nucleosome, it disrupts DNA-histone interactions behind and up to approximately 20 bp ahead of the elongation complex. After the polymerase proceeds 30-40 bp into the nucleosome, two intermediates are observed. In one, only the DNA ahead of the polymerase reassociates with the octamer. In the other, DNA both ahead of and behind the enzyme reassociates. These intermediates present a barrier to elongation. When the polymerase approaches the nucleosome dyad, it displaces the octamer, which is transferred to promoter-proximal DNA.

MENT, a heterochromatin protein that mediates higher order chromatin folding, is a new serpin family member.

Terminal cell differentiation is correlated with the extensive sequestering of previously active genes into compact transcriptionally inert heterochromatin. In vertebrate blood cells, these changes can be traced to the accumulation of a developmentally regulated heterochromatin protein, MENT. Cryoelectron microscopy of chicken granulocyte chromatin, which is highly enriched with MENT, reveals exceptionally compact polynucleosomes, which maintain a level of higher order folding above that imposed by linker histones. The amino acid sequence of MENT reveals a close structural relationship with serpins, a large family of proteins known for their ability to undergo dramatic conformational transitions. Conservation of the "hinge region" consensus in MENT indicates that this ability is retained by the protein. MENT is distinguished from the other serpins by being a basic protein, containing several positively charged surface clusters, which are likely to be involved in ionic interactions with DNA. One of the positively charged domains bears a significant similarity to the chromatin binding region of nuclear lamina proteins and with the A.T-rich DNA-binding motif, which may account for the targeting of MENT to peripheral heterochromatin. MENT ectopically expressed in a mammalian cell line is transported into nuclei and is associated with intranuclear foci of condensed chromatin.

Nucleosomes, linker DNA, and linker histone form a unique structural motif that directs the higher-order folding and compaction of chromatin.

The compaction level of arrays of nucleosomes may be understood in terms of the balance between the self-repulsion of DNA (principally linker DNA) and countering factors including the ionic strength and composition of the medium, the highly basic N termini of the core histones, and linker histones. However, the structural principles that come into play during the transition from a loose chain of nucleosomes to a compact 30-nm chromatin fiber have been difficult to establish, and the arrangement of nucleosomes and linker DNA in condensed chromatin fibers has never been fully resolved. Based on images of the solution conformation of native chromatin and fully defined chromatin arrays obtained by electron cryomicroscopy, we report a linker histone-dependent architectural motif beyond the level of the nucleosome core particle that takes the form of a stem-like organization of the entering and exiting linker DNA segments. DNA completes approximately 1.7 turns on the histone octamer in the presence and absence of linker histone. When linker histone is present, the two linker DNA segments become juxtaposed approximately 8 nm from the nucleosome center and remain apposed for 3-5 nm before diverging. We propose that this stem motif directs the arrangement of nucleosomes and linker DNA within the chromatin fiber, establishing a unique three-dimensional zigzag folding pattern that is conserved during compaction. Such an arrangement with peripherally arranged nucleosomes and internal linker DNA segments is fully consistent with observations in intact nuclei and also allows dramatic changes in compaction level to occur without a concomitant change in topology.

Chromatin structure in granulocytes. A link between tight compaction and accumulation of a heterochromatin-associated protein (MENT).

To study the mechanism of heterochromatin formation in vertebrate cells, we isolated nuclei from chicken polymorphonuclear granulocytes and examined the chromatin organization. We found granulocyte chromatin to remain insoluble after nuclease digestion and to be resistant to swelling in low salt/high pH media. Both insolubility and resistance to swelling were lost after washing with 0.3 M NaCl, a procedure that released two abundant tissue-specific proteins from granulocyte nuclei. One of them (42 kDa) is identified as MENT, a protein previously shown to be associated with repressed chromatin from mature chicken erythrocytes. We show that MENT is immunolocalized in granulocyte heterochromatin, where it is one of the most abundant chromatin proteins ( approximately 2 molecules/200 base pairs of DNA). MENT is the first nuclear protein structurally related to the serine protease inhibitor family. The other abundant protein is similar to or identical with mim-1, a myeloid-specific protein that is known to be stored in cell granules and to associate with isolated nuclei. MENT (but not mim-1) binds chromatin and free DNA, and, at its physiological protein/DNA ratio, enhances compaction and the reversible Mg2+-dependent self-association of nucleosome arrays. MENT appears to promote the formation of heterochromatin by acting as a "glue" within and between chains of nucleosomes.

A chromatin folding model that incorporates linker variability generates fibers resembling the native structures.

The "30-nm" chromatin fibers, as observed in eukaryotic nuclei, are considered a discrete level in a hierarchy of DNA folding. At present, there is considerable debate as to how the nucleosomes and linker DNA are organized within chromatin fibers, and a number of models have been proposed, many of which are based on helical symmetry and imply specific contacts between nucleosomes. However, when observed in nuclei or after isolation, chromatin fibers show considerable structural irregularity. In the present study, chromatin folding is considered solely in terms of the known properties of the nucleosome-linker unit, taking into account the relative rotation between consecutive nucleosomes that results from the helical twist of DNA. Model building based on this premise, and with a constant length of linker DNA between consecutive nucleosomes, results in a family of fiber- and ribbon-like structures. When the linker length between nucleosomes is allowed to vary, as occurs in nature, fibers showing the types of irregularity observed in nuclei and in isolated chromatin are created. The potential application of the model in determining the three-dimensional organization of chromatin in which nucleosome positions are known is discussed.

Stage-specific expression and localization of MENT, a nuclear protein associated with chromatin condensation in terminally differentiating avian erythroid cells.

Polyclonal antibodies have been raised against a non-histone protein (MENT) which has been previously shown to be associated with the repressed chromatin of mature chicken erythrocytes and to promote the in vitro condensation of chromatin of immature erythrocyte nuclei. Here we report that the expression pattern of MENT closely follows chromatin condensation in maturing avian erythrocytes of definitive and primary lineages. Accumulation of MENT correlates more strongly with chromatin condensation than does accumulation of histone H5. In addition to being present in erythrocytes, the protein was also found in neutrophil nuclei and an immunofluorescence reaction was observed with embryonic (nucleated) thrombocytes. MENT was not detected in other chicken tissues (brain, liver, testis). In intact erythrocytes, MENT immunofluorescence was found in foci close to the nuclear periphery, while in isolated, decondensed nuclei, the fluorescence signal was uniformly distributed. In neutrophil nuclei, containing approximately 10 times more MENT than adult erythrocytes, intense staining associated with the peripheral heterochromatin was observed. These findings are discussed in regard to a possible mechanism for chromatin condensation by MENT.

A novel nonhistone protein (MENT) promotes nuclear collapse at the terminal stage of avian erythropoiesis.

The terminal stage of differentiation of nucleated chicken erythrocytes is associated with an overall gene repression and a condensation of the repressed chromatin portion. Two-dimensional DNP electrophoresis has been used to separate transcriptionally active and repressed chromatin of mature chicken erythrocytes. The repressed chromatin fraction is shown to be enriched with histone H5 as well as with a 42-kDa nonhistone chromosomal protein. The 42-kDa protein designated here as MENT (mature erythrocyte nuclear termination stage-specific protein) is hyperexpressed at the terminal stage of chicken erythropoiesis and is accumulated in adult chicken erythrocyte nuclei. This protein was purified by ion-exchange chromatography from 0.4 M NaCl extracts of the erythrocyte nuclei. It appeared to be a basic polypeptide (pI 9.2) which, however, precipitated at low pH. When reconstituted in vitro with immature erythrocyte nuclei, MENT promoted condensation of intact nuclear chromatin and enhanced the solubilization of nuclease-digested polynucleosomes, thus mimicking the processes occurring in vivo at the final stage of erythrocyte maturation. The extent of dissociation of specific gene sequences from the nuclear matrix in MENT-treated nuclei is in striking correlation with their transcriptional activity. No other basic proteins (H5, cytochrome c, RNase A) added to the nuclear preparation at the same level as MENT (protein/DNA = 0.005) caused any effect on nuclear organization. No alterations were observed when MENT was mixed with erythroblasts and nonerythroid nuclei having little or no histone H5. We propose that MENT cooperates with histone H5 to complete the nuclear collapse in mature nucleated erythrocytes.

Loosened nucleosome linker folding in transcriptionally active chromatin of chicken embryo erythrocyte nuclei.

We have investigated the mechanism of the electrophoresis-driven chromatin aggregation which had been described by Weintraub (1984, Cell 38, 17-27) as a putative mean for propagation of genetic repression in eukaryotes. We show that the oligonucleosome aggregates are assembled de novo at the starting zone of DNP electrophoresis. A new system of native two-dimensional DNP electrophoresis has been worked out to separate the oligonucleosome aggregates ('A' particles) and the freely-migrating oligonucleosomes ('B' particles). The 'B' particle fraction which is derived from transcriptionally-active chromatin regions undergoes an extensive nuclease degradation of its DNA termini during the nuclease digestion. This fraction is partially depleted of histones H1 and H5 and is enriched in HMG nonhistone proteins. 'A' particles comprise the repressed chromatin DNA fragments which are about 60 b.p. longer than the corresponding DNA oligomers of 'B' particles. An oligonucleosome preparation containing the elongated DNA oligomers has been also isolated by means of sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation. Exonuclease III mapping reveals that the two chromatin fractions differ by an extent of terminal linker DNA trimming during the Micrococcal nuclease digestion rather than by the nucleosome repeat length. The complex character of nuclease digestion is not observed when the chromatin is digested in solution after the nuclear lysis. We argue that the protection of terminal oligonucleosome linkers is due to selective condensation of inactive chromatin in chicken erythrocyte nuclei and that the terminal DNA tails together with linker histones bound to them mediate the aggregation of repressed chromatin fragments.

A topological model for chromatin transcription and a role for nucleosome linkers.

There is a good deal of evidence that transcribing RNA polymerase may translocate across nucleosomes without their displacement and (or) rearrangement. A topological model for RNA chain elongation on a nucleosome is considered here. A new mechanism of RNA polymerase translocation is suggested in order to avoid the steric hindrances inherent in the model. It is shown that a transcribed nucleoprotein fiber should be interrupted by protein-free DNA stretches (nucleosome linkers) to allow release of nascent RNA. Possible verifications and consequences of the model are discussed.

Transient unfolding of trypsin-digested chromatin core particles.

Limited digestion of nucleosome core particles with trypsin caused cleavage and removal of N-terminal histone sequences of 10-30 amino acids. The proteolyzed core particles exhibited salt-dependent structural transitions revealed by sedimentation, circular dichroism and nuclease-cutting assays, while the intact nucleosome cores were not affected under the experimental conditions. The results obtained indicate that the observed transitions correspond to the transient unfolding of terminal segments of core particle nucleoprotein caused by the increase of its net negative charge. The excision of the N-terminal histone domains therefore leads to partial destabilization but not to irreversible disruption of the compact nucleosome structure.