Download MendeleyMechanisms of OCT4-SOX2 motif readout on nucleosomes.
Michael, A.K., Grand, R.S., Isbel, L., Cavadini, S., Kozicka, Z., Kempf, G., Bunker, R.D., Schenk, A.D., Graff-Meyer, A., Pathare, G.R., Weiss, J., Matsumoto, S., Burger, L., Schubeler, D., Thoma, N.H.(2020) Science 368: 1460-1465
- PubMed: 32327602
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb0074
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
6T90, 6T93, 6YOV - PubMed Abstract:
Transcription factors (TFs) regulate gene expression through chromatin where nucleosomes restrict DNA access. To study how TFs bind nucleosome-occupied motifs, we focused on the reprogramming factors OCT4 and SOX2 in mouse embryonic stem cells. We determined TF engagement throughout a nucleosome at base-pair resolution in vitro, enabling structure determination by cryo-electron microscopy at two preferred positions. Depending on motif location, OCT4 and SOX2 differentially distort nucleosomal DNA. At one position, OCT4-SOX2 removes DNA from histone H2A and histone H3; however, at an inverted motif, the TFs only induce local DNA distortions. OCT4 uses one of its two DNA-binding domains to engage DNA in both structures, reading out a partial motif. These findings explain site-specific nucleosome engagement by the pluripotency factors OCT4 and SOX2, and they reveal how TFs distort nucleosomes to access chromatinized motifs.
Organizational Affiliation:
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Maulbeerstrasse 66, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
