RESUMO
The histone variant H2A.Bbd appeared to be associated with active chromatin, but how it functions is unknown. We have dissected the properties of nucleosome containing H2A.Bbd. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) showed that the H2A.Bbd histone octamer organizes only approximately 130 bp of DNA, suggesting that 10 bp of each end of nucleosomal DNA are released from the octamer. In agreement with this, the entry/exit angle of the nucleosomal DNA ends formed an angle close to 180 degrees and the physico-chemical analysis pointed to a lower stability of the variant particle. Reconstitution of nucleosomes with swapped-tail mutants demonstrated that the N-terminus of H2A.Bbd has no impact on the nucleosome properties. AFM, cryo-EM and chromatin remodeling experiments showed that the overall structure and stability of the particle, but not its property to interfere with the SWI/SNF induced remodeling, were determined to a considerable extent by the H2A.Bbd docking domain. These data show that the whole H2A.Bbd histone fold domain is responsible for the unusual properties of the H2A.Bbd nucleosome.
Assuntos
Histonas/química , Histonas/metabolismo , Nucleossomos/metabolismo , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Sítios de Ligação , Montagem e Desmontagem da Cromatina , Proteínas Cromossômicas não Histona/química , Proteínas Cromossômicas não Histona/metabolismo , Microscopia Crioeletrônica , DNA/química , DNA/metabolismo , Variação Genética , Histonas/genética , Histonas/ultraestrutura , Técnicas In Vitro , Microscopia de Força Atômica , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Mutação , Dobramento de Proteína , Estrutura Quaternária de Proteína , Estrutura Terciária de Proteína , Proteínas Recombinantes/química , Proteínas Recombinantes/genética , Proteínas Recombinantes/metabolismo , Proteínas Recombinantes/ultraestrutura , Proteínas de Xenopus/química , Proteínas de Xenopus/genética , Proteínas de Xenopus/metabolismo , Proteínas de Xenopus/ultraestrutura , Xenopus laevisRESUMO
We present a simple experimental setup of magneto-optical tweezers built around an inverted microscope. Two pairs of coils placed around the focal point of the objective generate a planar-rotating magnetic field that is perpendicular to the stretching direction. This configuration allows us to control the rotary movement of a paramagnetic bead trapped in the optical tweezers. The mechanical design is universal and can be simply adapted to any inverted microscope and objective. The mechanical configuration permits the use of a rather large experimental cell and the simple assembly and disassembly of the magnetic attachment.
Assuntos
DNA/química , DNA/ultraestrutura , Lasers , Magnetismo/instrumentação , Micromanipulação/instrumentação , Microscopia/instrumentação , DNA/análise , Desenho de Equipamento , Análise de Falha de Equipamento , Micromanipulação/métodos , Microscopia/métodos , Conformação de Ácido Nucleico , Estresse MecânicoRESUMO
We have studied the sample concentration-dependent and external stress-dependent stability of native and reconstituted nucleosomal arrays. Whereas upon stretching a single chromatin fiber in a solution of very low chromatin concentration the statistical distribution of DNA length released upon nucleosome unfolding shows only one population centered around approximately 25 nm, in nucleosome stabilizing conditions a second population with average length of approximately 50 nm was observed. Using radioactively labeled histone H3 and H2B, we demonstrate that upon lowering the chromatin concentration to very low values, first the linker histones are released, followed by the H2A-H2B dimer, whereas the H3-H4 tetramer remains stably attached to DNA even at the lowest concentration studied. The nucleosomal arrays reconstituted on a 5 S rDNA tandem repeat exhibited similar behavior. This suggests that the 25-nm disruption length is a consequence of the histone H2A-H2B dimer dissociation from the histone octamer. In nucleosome stabilizing conditions, a full approximately 145 bp is constrained in the nucleosome. Our data demonstrate that the nucleosome stability and histone octamer integrity can be severely degraded in experiments where the sample concentration is low.