STUDIES OF DROSOPHILA ATP-DEPENDENT CHROMATIN ASSEMBLY AND REMODELING FACTORS
A.Y. Konev, A.A. Makase, D.K. Pokrovsky, M.A. Ignatiev, Y.A. Iliina, L.V. Kotlovanova
St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina, Russia;
e-mail: konev.alexander@gmail.com
Chromatin assembly is a fundamentally important process that is essential for chromosome duplication subsequent to DNA replication. In addition, histone removal and
incorporation take place constantly throughout the cell cycle in the course of DNA-utilizing processes, such as transcription, damage repair or recombination. In vitro, chromatin
assembly requires the concerned action of histone chaperones and ATP-utilizing chromatin assembly factors. A novel, evolutionarily conserved, ISWI-containing ATP-dependent
chromatin assembly complex termed ToRC has been described. ToRC comprises ISWI, Toutatis and the transcriptional corepressor CtBP. In vivo studies identified the
Drosophila ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling protein CHD1 as a key factor in the replication independent assembly of nucleosomes containing the variant histone H3.3.
CHD1 functions within a network of partially redundant factors: mutations in individual chromatin assembly factors are viable, but combination of Chd1 mutations with mutations of
other ATP-dependent chromatin assembly factors (acf1, dRsf1, tou) causes synthetic lethality. Thus, ATP-dependent molecular motor proteins, such as CHD1, function not only in
remodeling of existing nucleosomes but also in de novo nucleosome assembly f rom DNA and histones.
Key words: chromatin, chromatin assembly, chromatin-remodeling factors, histone chaperones, variant histones, CHD1, Acf1, Toutatis
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