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Aberrant activation of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway can drive tumorigenesis1. To investigate the mechanism by which glioma-associated oncogene family zinc finger-1 (GLI1), a crucial effector of Hh signaling2, regulates Hh pathway activation, we searched for GLI1-interacting proteins. We report that the chromatin remodeling protein SNF5 (encoded by SMARCB1, hereafter called SNF5), which is inactivated in human malignant rhabdoid tumors (MRTs), interacts with GLI1. We show that Snf5 localizes to Gli1-regulated promoters and that loss of Snf5 leads to activation of the Hh-Gli pathway. Conversely, re-expression of SNF5 in MRT cells represses GLI1. Consistent with this, we show the presence of a Hh-Gli–activated gene expression profile in primary MRTs and show that GLI1 drives the growth of SNF5-deficient MRT cells in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, our studies reveal that SNF5 is a key mediator of Hh signaling and that aberrant activation of GLI1 is a previously undescribed targetable mechanism contributing to the growth of MRT cells.

DNA sequence variations in individual genomes within the same species give rise to different phenotypes. One mechanism in this process is alteration of chromatin structure due to sequence variation that impacts gene regulation downstream. In this study, we compose a high-confidence collection of human indels and SNPs based on the analysis of a large set of publicly available sequencing data and investigate whether the DNA loci associated with stable nucleosome positions are protected against sequence mutations. We address how the sequence variation is reflected in the occupancy profiles of nucleosomes of different types at regulatory sequences and genome-wide. We find that indels are depleted around nucleosome positions of all considered types; SNPs, on the other hand, are enriched around the positions of bulk nucleosomes but depleted around the positions preferentially occupied by epigenetically modified nucleosomes. Such a behavior indicates an increased level of conservation for the sequences associated with epigenetically modified nucleosomes and highlights complex organization of the human chromatin.

The distribution of nucleosomes along the genome is a significant aspect of chromatin structure and is thought to influence gene regulation through modulation of DNA accessibility. However, properties of nucleosome organization remain poorly understood, particularly in mammalian genomes. Toward this goal we used tiled microarrays to identify stable nucleosome positions along the HOX gene clusters in human cell lines. We show that nucleosome positions exhibit sequence properties and long-range organization that are different from those characterized in other organisms. Despite overall variability of internucleosome distances, specific loci contain regular nucleosomal arrays with 195-bp periodicity. Moreover, such arrays tend to occur preferentially toward the 3′ ends of genes. Through comparison of different cell lines, we find that active transcription is correlated with increased positioning of nucleosomes, suggesting an unexpected role for transcription in the establishment of well-positioned nucleosomes.

Summary: Sequence-directed mapping of nucleosome positions is of major biological interest. Here, we present a web-interface for estimation of the affinity of the histone core to DNA and prediction of nucleosome arrangement on a given sequence. Our approach is based on assessment of the energy cost of imposing the deformations required to wrap DNA around the histone surface. The interface allows the user to specify a number of options such as selecting from several structural templates for threading calculations and adding random sequences to the analysis. Availability: The nuScore interface is freely available for use at http://compbio.med.harvard.edu/nuScore. Contact: peter_park@harvard.edu; tolstorukov@gmail.com Supplementary information: The site contains user manual, description of the methodology and examples.

How eukaryotic genomes encode the folding of DNA into nucleosomes and how this intrinsic organization of chromatin guides biological function are questions of wide interest. The physical basis of nucleosome positioning lies in the sequence-dependent propensity of DNA to adopt the tightly bent configuration imposed by the binding of the histone proteins. Traditionally, only DNA bending and twisting deformations are considered, while the effects of the lateral displacements of adjacent base pairs are neglected. We demonstrate, however, that these displacements play a much more important structural role than ever imagined. Specifically, the lateral Slide deformations observed at sites of local anisotropic bending of DNA define its superhelical trajectory in chromatin. Furthermore, the computed cost of deforming DNA on the nucleosome is sequence specific: in optimally positioned sequences the most easily deformed base-pair steps (CA:TG and TA) occur at sites of large positive Slide and negative Roll (where the DNA bends into the minor groove). These conclusions rest upon a treatment of DNA that goes beyond the conventional ribbon model, incorporating all essential degrees of freedom of ‘real’ duplexes in the estimation of DNA deformation energies. Indeed, only after lateral Slide displacements are considered, are we able to account for the sequence-specific folding of DNA found in nucleosome structures. The close correspondence between the predicted and observed nucleosome locations demonstrates the potential advantage of our 'structural' approach in the computer mapping of nucleosome positioning.

DNA bending is universal in biology—both the storage and the retrieval of information encoded in the base-pair sequence require significant deformations, particularly bending, of the double helix. The A-tract curvature, which modulates these processes, has thus been a subject of long-standing interest. Here we describe the ongoing evolution of models developed to account for the sequence-dependent bending and curvature of DNA, namely the AA-wedge, junction, and flexible anisotropic dimer models. We further show that recent high-resolution NMR structures of DNA A-tracts are consistent with crystallographically observed structures, and that the combined data provide a realistic basis for describing the behavior of curved DNA in solution.

To determine whether the spacer region between the -35 and -10 elements plays any sequence-specific role, we randomized the GC-rich sequence ( -20 CCGGCTCG -13 ) within the spacer region of the cAMP-dependent lac promoter and selected an activator-independent mutant, which showed extraordinarily high intrinsic activity. The hyperactive promoter is obtained by incorporation of a specific 10-bp-long AT-rich DNA sequence within the spacer, referred to as the -15 sequence, which must be juxtaposed to the upstream end of the -10 sequence for the hyperactivity. The transcription enhancement functions only in the presence of a -35 element. The spacer sequence enhanced both RNA polymerase binding and open complex formation. Isolated in the lac promoter, it also enhanced transcription when placed at two other unrelated promoters. Sequence analysis shows a low GC content and an abundance of stereochemically flexible TG:CA and TA:TA dimeric steps in the -18/-9 region and a strong correlation between the presence of flexible dimeric steps in this region and the intrinsic strength of the promoter.

Information readout in the DNA minor groove is accompanied by substantial DNA deformations, such as sugar switching between the two conformational domains, B-like C2'-endo and A-like C3'-endo. The effect of sugar puckering on the sequence-dependent protein-DNA interactions has not been studied systematically, however. Here, we analyzed the structural role of A-like nucleotides in 156 protein-DNA complexes solved by X-ray crystallography and NMR. To this end, a new algorithm was developed to distinguish interactions in the minor groove from those in the major groove, and to calculate the solvent-accessible surface areas in each groove separately. Based on this approach, we found a striking difference between the sets of amino acids interacting with B-like and A-like nucleotides in the minor groove. Polar amino acids mostly interact with B-nucleotides, while hydrophobic amino acids interact extensively with A-nucleotides (a hydrophobicity-structure correlation). This tendency is consistent with the larger exposure of hydrophobic surfaces in the case of A-like sugars. Overall, the A-like nucleotides aid in achieving protein-induced fit in two major ways. First, hydrophobic clusters formed by several consecutive A-like sugars interact cooperatively with the non-polar surfaces in proteins. Second, the sugar switching occurs in large kinks promoted by direct protein contact, predominantly at the pyrimidine-purine dimeric steps. The sequence preference for the B-to-A sugar repuckering, observed for pyrimidines, suggests that the described DNA deformations contribute to specificity of the protein-DNA recognition in the minor groove.

A model of the conformational transitions of the nucleic acid molecule during the water adsorption-desorption cycle is proposed. The nucleic acid-water system is considered as an open system. The model describes the transitions between three main conformations of wet nucleic acid samples: A-, B- and unordered forms. The analysis of kinetic equations shows the non-trivial bifurcation behaviour of the system which leads to the multistability. This fact allows one to explain the hysteresis phenomena observed experimentally in the nucleic acid-water system. The problem of self-organization in the nucleic acid-water system is of great importance for revealing physical mechanisms of the functioning of nucleic acids and for many specific practical fields.

Background High throughput sequencing is frequently used to discover the location of regulatory interactions on chromatin. However, techniques that enrich DNA where regulatory activity takes place, such as chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), often yield less DNA than optimal for sequencing library preparation. Existing protocols for picogram-scale libraries require concomitant fragmentation of DNA, pre-amplification, or long overnight steps. Results We report a simple and fast library construction method that produces libraries from sub-nanogram quantities of DNA. This protocol yields conventional libraries with barcodes suitable for multiplexed sample analysis on the Illumina platform. We demonstrate the utility of this method by constructing a ChIP-seq library from 100 pg of ChIP DNA that demonstrates equivalent genomic coverage of target regions to a library produced from a larger scale experiment. Conclusions Application of this method allows whole genome studies from samples where material or yields are limiting.