GSE195767
Loss of H3K9 tri-methylation alters mitotic chromosome compaction and transcription factor retention during mitosis
Recent studies have shown that repressive chromatin machinery, including DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) and Polycomb Repressor Complexes (PRCs), bind to chromosomes throughout mitosis and their depletion results in increased chromosome size. Enzymes that catalyse H3K9 methylation, such as Suv39h1, Suv39h2, G9a, GLP are also retained by mitotic chromosomes. Surprisingly however, mutants lacking H3K9me3 have unusually small and compact mitotic chromosomes that are associated with increased H3S10ph and H3K27me3 levels. Despite these differences, chromatin accessibility, as measured by ATAC-seq, was broadly similar between genotypes. Chromosome size and centromere compaction in these mutants was rescued by providing exogenous Suv39h1, or inhibiting Ezh2 activity. Quantitative proteomic comparisons of native mitotic chromosomes isolated from wildtype versus Suv39h1,2 double null ESCs revealed that H3K9me3 was essential for the efficient retention of bookmarking factors such as Esrrb. These results highlight an unexpected role for repressive heterochromatin domains in preserving transcription factor binding through mitosis, and underscore the importance of H3K9me3 for sustaining chromosome architecture and epigenetic memory during cell division. Overall design: ATAC-seq was performed in duplicate on wild-type (WT26) and Suv39h dn (DN57) mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) for asynchronous cells, mitotic cells and flow-cytometry purified mitotic chromosomes.