H3.3/H2A.Z double variant–containing nucleosomes mark 'nucleosome-free regions' of active promoters and other regulatory regions

Abstract

Gary Felsenfeld and colleagues examine the distribution of H3.3- and H2A.Z-containing nucleosomes genome-wide. They find that regions at transcription start sites of active genes, which were thought to be “nucleosome-free regions,” are enriched for unstable H2A.Z and H3.3 double-variant nucleosomes. These results suggest that double-variant nucleosomes may be important in the regulation of transcription factor access to promoters. To understand how chromatin structure is organized by different histone variants, we have measured the genome-wide distribution of nucleosome core particles (NCPs) containing the histone variants H3.3 and H2A.Z in human cells. We find that a special class of NCPs containing both variants is enriched at 'nucleosome-free regions' of active promoters, enhancers and insulator regions. We show that preparative methods used previously in studying nucleosome structure result in the loss of these unstable double-variant NCPs. It seems likely that this instability facilitates the access of transcription factors to promoters and other regulatory sites in vivo. Other combinations of variants have different distributions, consistent with distinct roles for histone variants in the modulation of gene expression.