2025-11-20 理化学研究所,東京大学,立命館大学,科学技術振興機構
96個のヌクレオソームが数珠つなぎになった再構成「長鎖クロマチン」
<関連情報>
- https://www.riken.jp/press/2025/20251120_1/index.html
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx9282
遺伝子規模のin vitro再構成により、ヒストンのアセチル化がクロマチン構造を直接制御することが明らかになった Gene-scale in vitro reconstitution reveals histone acetylation directly controls chromatin architecture
Yohsuke T. Fukai, Tomoya Kujirai, Masatoshi Wakamori, Setsuko Kanamura, […] , and Kyogo Kawaguchi
Science Advances Published:19 Nov 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx9282
Abstract
Understanding how epigenetic modifications intrinsically shape gene-scale chromatin architecture remains challenging due to difficulties in reconstituting and characterizing sufficiently long arrays with defined modification patterns. Here, we overcome this barrier by reconstituting 20-kilobase (96-nucleosome) chromatin arrays with modification patterns precisely controlled at 12-nucleosome resolution. Single-molecule microscopy reveals the dynamics governed by hydrodynamic interactions, demonstrating that increasing histone H4 acetylation density enhances structural fluctuations and relaxation times. In vitro Hi-C reveals power-law decay of the nucleosome contacts consistent with the Gaussian chain, which is globally reduced by acetylation. We also observe that heterogeneous modification patterns alone are sufficient to create distinct structural domains reminiscent of higher-order chromatin organization. These findings establish how histone modifications modulate chromatin architecture via changes in local stiffness and nucleosome interactions, providing a quantitative framework for genome organization.
