The N‐terminal and C‐terminal halves of histone H2A.Z independently function in nucleosome positioning and stability

• Published in: Genes to cells : devoted to molecular & cellular mechanisms Vol. 25; no. 8; pp. 538 - 546
• Main Authors: Sato, Shoko, Tanaka, Naoki, Arimura, Yasuhiro, Kujirai, Tomoya, Kurumizaka, Hitoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2020; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Chromatin; epigenetics; Gene regulation; H2A.Z; Histone H2A; histone variant; nucleosome positioning; nucleosome stability; Nucleosomes; Original; histone variant; H2A.Z; nucleosome stability; epigenetics; nucleosome positioning
• ISSN: 1356-9597; 1365-2443
• DOI: 10.1111/gtc.12791

Nucleosome positioning and stability affect gene regulation in eukaryotic chromatin. Histone H2A.Z is an evolutionally conserved histone variant that forms mobile and unstable nucleosomes in vivo and in vitro. In the present study, we reconstituted nucleosomes containing human H2A.Z.1 mutants, in which the N‐terminal or C‐terminal half of H2A.Z.1 was replaced by the corresponding canonical H2A region. We found that the N‐terminal portion of H2A.Z.1 is involved in flexible nucleosome positioning, whereas the C‐terminal portion leads to weak H2A.Z.1‐H2B association in the nucleosome. These results indicate that the N‐terminal and C‐terminal portions are independently responsible for the H2A.Z.1 nucleosome characteristics. The N‐terminal and C‐terminal portions are independently responsible for the H2A.Z.1 nucleosome characteristics. The N‐terminal portion of H2A.Z.1 is involved in multiple positioning of the nucleosome. The C‐terminal portion of H2A.Z.1 leads to weak H2A.Z.1‐H2B association in the nucleosome.