Preparation/analysis of chromatin replicated in vivo and in isolated nuclei

Analysis of Histone Modifications by Mass Spectrometry

Histone N termini undergo diverse post-translational modifications that significantly extend the information potential of the genetic code. Moreover, these modifications mark specific chromatin regions, modulating epigenetic control, lineage commitment, and overall function of chromosomes. It is widely accepted that histone modifications affect chromatin function, but the exact mechanisms by which modifications on histone tails and specific combinations of modifications are generated, and how they cross-talk with one another, are still enigmatic. Mass spectrometry is the gold-standard method for analyzing histone modifications, as it allows the quantification of modifications and combinations. This unit describes how high-resolution mass spectrometry can be used to study histone post-translational modifications. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Histone acetyl transferase 1 is essential for mammalian development, genome stability, and the processing of newly synthesized histones H3 and H4

Histone acetyltransferase 1 is an evolutionarily conserved type B histone acetyltransferase that is thought to be responsible for the diacetylation of newly synthesized histone H4 on lysines 5 and 12 during chromatin assembly. To understand the function of this enzyme in a complex organism, we have constructed a conditional mouse knockout model of Hat1. Murine Hat1 is essential for viability, as homozygous deletion of Hat1 results in neonatal lethality. The lungs of embryos and pups genetically deficient in Hat1 were much less mature upon histological evaluation. The neonatal lethality is due to severe defects in lung development that result in less aeration and respiratory distress. Many of the Hat1^−/− neonates also display significant craniofacial defects with abnormalities in the bones of the skull and jaw. Hat1^−/− mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) are defective in cell proliferation and are sensitive to DNA damaging agents. In addition, the Hat1^−/− MEFs display a marked increase in genome instability. Analysis of histone dynamics at sites of replication-coupled chromatin assembly demonstrates that Hat1 is not only responsible for the acetylation of newly synthesized histone H4 but is also required to maintain the acetylation of histone H3 on lysines 9, 18, and 27 during replication-coupled chromatin assembly.

The packaging of genomic DNA during replication is a highly orchestrated process. An important aspect of chromatin assembly is the processing of newly synthesized histones prior to their incorporation into chromatin. The transient acetylation of histone H3 and H4 NH₂-terminal tails is a hallmark of this processing with newly synthesized molecules of histone H4 being predominantly diacetylated. This diacetylation occurs specifically on lysine residues 5 and 12 and this precise pattern is widely conserved throughout eukaryotic evolution. The acetylation of newly synthesized histones is catalyzed by type B histone acetyltransferases. Hat1 is the founding member of this class of enzymes and has been proposed to be responsible for the diacetylation of newly synthesized histone H4. Here we describe the development of a mouse knockout model of Hat1. The absence of Hat1 results in neonatal lethality due to developmental defects in the lung. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts derived from Hat1^−/− mice are sensitive to DNA damaging agents and display a high level of genome instability. Biochemical analyses provide definitive evidence that Hat1 is the sole enzyme responsible for the acetylation of newly synthesized histone H4. Surprisingly, Hat1 is also necessary for the normal processing of newly synthesized histone H3.

Proteomic interrogation of human chromatin

Chromatin proteins provide a scaffold for DNA packaging and a basis for epigenetic regulation and genomic maintenance. Despite understanding its functional roles, mapping the chromatin proteome (i.e. the "Chromatome") is still a continuing process. Here, we assess the biological specificity and proteomic extent of three distinct chromatin preparations by identifying proteins in selected chromatin-enriched fractions using mass spectrometry-based proteomics. These experiments allowed us to produce a chromatin catalog, including several proteins ranging from highly abundant histone proteins to less abundant members of different chromatin machinery complexes. Using a Normalized Spectral Abundance Factor approach, we quantified relative abundances of the proteins across the chromatin enriched fractions giving a glimpse into their chromosomal abundance. The large-scale data sets also allowed for the discovery of a variety of novel post-translational modifications on the identified chromatin proteins. With these comparisons, we find one of the probed methods to be qualitatively superior in specificity for chromatin proteins, but inferior in proteomic extent, evidencing a compromise that must be made between biological specificity and broadness of characterization. Additionally, we attempt to identify proteins in eu- and heterochromatin, verifying the enrichments by characterizing the post-translational modifications detected on histone proteins from these chromatin regions. In summary, our results provide insights into the value of different methods to extract chromatin-associated proteins and provide starting points to study the factors that may be involved in directing gene expression and other chromatin-related processes.

Analysis of histone modifications by mass spectrometry

Histone N-termini undergo diverse post-translational modifications that significantly extend the information potential of the genetic code. Moreover, they appear to mark specific chromatin regions, modulating epigenetic control, lineage commitment, and overall function of chromosomes. It is widely accepted that histone modifications affect chromatin function, but the exact mechanisms of how modifications on histone tails and specific combinations of modifications are generated, and how they cross-talk with one another, is still enigmatic. Mass spectrometry is ideal for the analysis of histone modifications and is becoming the gold standard for histone post-translational modification analysis since it allows the quantification of modifications and combinations. This unit describes how high-resolution mass spectrometry can be used to study histone post-translational modifications.

Modifications of H3 and H4 during chromatin replication, nucleosome assembly, and histone exchange

Histone posttranslational modifications that accompany DNA replication, nucleosome assembly, and H2A/H2B exchange were examined in human tissue culture cells. Through microsequencing analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation, it was found that a subset of newly synthesized H3.2/H3.3 is modified by acetylation and methylation at sites that correlate with transcriptional competence. Immunoprecipitation experiments suggest that cytosolic predeposition complexes purified from cells expressing FLAG-H4 contain H3/H4 dimers, not tetramers. Studies of the deposition of newly synthesized H2A/H2B onto replicating and nonreplicating chromatin demonstrated that H2A/H2B exchange takes place in chromatin regions that contain acetylated H4; however, there is no single pattern of H4 acetylation that accompanies exchange. H2A/H2B exchange is also largely independent of the deposition of replacement histone variant, H3.3. Finally, immunoprecipitation of nucleosomes replicated in the absence of de novo nucleosome assembly showed that histone modifications do not prevent the transfer of parental histones to newly replicated DNA and thus have the potential to serve as means of epigenetic inheritance. Our experiments provide an in-depth analysis of the "histone code" associated with chromatin replication and dynamic histone exchange in human cells.