Klose, R. J. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2018

FBXL19 recruits CDK-Mediator to CpG islands of developmental genes to prime them for activation during lineage commitment

CpG islands are gene regulatory elements associated with the majority of mammalian promoters, yet how they regulate gene expression remains poorly understood. Here, we identify FBXL19 as a CpG island-binding protein in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells and show that it associates with the CDK-Mediator complex. We discover that FBXL19 recruits CDK-Mediator to CpG island-associated promoters of non-transcribed developmental genes to prime these genes for activation during cell lineage commitment. We further show that recognition of CpG islands by FBXL19 is essential for mouse development. Together this reveals a new CpG island-centric mechanism for CDK-Mediator recruitment to developmental gene promoters in ES cells and a requirement for CDK-Mediator in priming these developmental genes for activation during cell lineage commitment.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2018

Polycomb repressive complex 1 defines the nucleosome landscape but not accessibility at target genes.

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are transcriptional repressors that play important roles regulating gene expression during animal development. In vitro experiments have shown that PcG protein complexes can compact chromatin limiting the activity of chromatin remodelling enzymes and access of the transcriptional machinery to DNA. In fitting with these ideas, gene promoters associated with PcG proteins have been reported to be less accessible than other gene promotors. However, it remains largely untested in vivo whether PcG proteins define chromatin accessibility or other chromatin features. To address this important question, we measured chromatin accessibility and examined the nucleosome landscape at PcG protein-bound promoters in mouse embryonic stem cells using the assay for transposase accessible chromatin (ATAC)-seq. Combined with genetic ablation strategies, we unexpectedly discover that although PcG protein-occupied gene promoters exhibit reduced accessibility, this does not rely on PcG proteins. Instead, the Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) appears to play a unique role in driving elevated nucleosome occupancy and decreased nucleosomal spacing in Polycomb chromatin domains. Our new genome-scale observations argue, in contrast to the prevailing view, that PcG proteins and Polycomb chromatin domains do not significantly affect chromatin accessibility and highlight an underappreciated complexity in the relationship between chromatin accessibility, the nucleosome landscape and PcG-mediated transcriptional repression.

genomics↗