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PMID: 17139253 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

NoRC-dependent nucleosome positioning silences rRNA genes.

The EMBO journal ·Vol. 25 ·No. 24 ·2006-12-13 ·Pages 5735-41

Li J, Längst G, Grummt I

Abstract

Previous studies have established that the Snf2h-containing chromatin remodeling complex NoRC mediates epigenetic silencing of a subset of rRNA genes (rDNA) by recruiting enzymatic activities that modify histones and methylate DNA. Here we have analyzed nucleosome positions at the murine rDNA promoter and show that active and silent rDNA copies are characterized not only by specific epigenetic marks but also by differently positioned nucleosomes. At active genes the promoter-bound nucleosome covers nucleotides from -157 to -2, whereas at silent genes the nucleosome is positioned 25 nucleotides further downstream. We provide evidence that NoRC is the molecular machine that shifts the promoter-bound nucleosome downstream of the transcription start site into a translational position that is unfavorable for transcription complex formation.

MeSH Terms
3T3-L1 Cells Adipocytes/cytology Animals Cell Differentiation Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone/metabolism Chromosome Positioning Gene Silencing Genes, rRNA Mice NIH 3T3 Cells Nucleosomes/metabolism Promoter Regions, Genetic/genetics Transcription, Genetic
Chemicals
Baz2a protein, mouse Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone Nucleosomes
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Li Junwei
Division of Molecular Biology of the Cell II, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Längst Gernot
Grummt Ingrid
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Article Info
Journal
The EMBO journal
Abbr.
EMBO J
ISSN
0261-4189
DOI
10.1038/sj.emboj.7601454
Published
2006-12-13
Epub
2006-00-30
Pages
5735-41
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
8208664
PMCID
PMC1698900
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1038/sj.emboj.7601454 PMC Full Text View journal details
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