Abstract
The mechanism by which the eukaryotic DNA-replication machinery penetrates condensed chromatin structures to replicate the underlying DNA is poorly understood. Here we provide evidence that an ACF1–ISWI chromatin-remodeling complex is required for replication through heterochromatin in mammalian cells. ACF1 (ATP-utilizing chromatin assembly and remodeling factor 1) and an ISWI isoform, SNF2H (sucrose nonfermenting-2 homolog), become specifically enriched in replicating pericentromeric heterochromatin. RNAi-mediated depletion of ACF1 specifically impairs the replication of pericentromeric heterochromatin. Accordingly, depletion of ACF1 causes a delay in cell-cycle progression through the late stages of S phase. In vivo depletion of SNF2H slows the progression of DNA replication throughout S phase, indicating a functional overlap with ACF1. Decondensing the heterochromatin with 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine reverses the effects of ACF1 and SNF2H depletion. Expression of an ACF1 mutant that cannot interact with SNF2H also interferes with replication of condensed chromatin. Our data suggest that an ACF1–SNF2H complex is part of a dedicated mechanism that enables DNA replication through highly condensed regions of chromatin.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Y. Nakamura for hSNF2H cDNA; L. Bozhenok, M. Grimaldi, G. Elliot, R. Cross, J. Dalgaard, W. Bickmore and J. Boyes for helpful discussions and assistance in various aspects of this project; G. Almouzni and M. Guenatri for advice and discussion; and G. Almouzni for hosting R.A.P. under a network grant from the European Union. This work was funded by the Marie Curie Cancer Care. R.A.P. was supported by a grant from the Association for International Cancer Research, St Andrews. I.K. was supported in part by a research fellowship from the Uehara Memorial Foundation.
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Collins, N., Poot, R., Kukimoto, I. et al. An ACF1–ISWI chromatin-remodeling complex is required for DNA replication through heterochromatin. Nat Genet 32, 627–632 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng1046
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng1046
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