Hierarchical reactivation of transcription during mitosis-to-G1 transition by Brn2 and Ascl1 in neural stem cells

Here, Soares et al. show an important role for differential binding of TFs to mitotic chromosomes, governed by their electrostatic properties, in defining the temporal order of transcriptional reactivation during mitosis-to-G1 transition. They report that Brn2, an important regulator of neural stem cell identity, associates with condensed chromatin throughout cell division, as assessed by live-cell imaging of proliferating neural stem cells, and ChIP-seq analysis reveals that Brn2 mitotic chromosome binding does not result in sequence-specific interactions prior to mitotic exit, relying mostly on electrostatic forces.