Nucleosome structural changes induced by binding of non-histone chromosomal proteins HMGN1 and HMGN2

• A nucleosome was reconstituted from recombinant histones and a synthetic DNA.
• Nucleosomes were produced at sufficiently high yield for spectroscopic analysis.
• A nucleosome with and without HMGN proteins was analyzed using CD spectroscopy.
• CD data indicate that HMGN proteins increase the winding angle of the nucleosome DNA.
• HMGN1 and HMGN2 may have different abilities to facilitate nucleosome remodeling.

Interactions between the nucleosome and the non-histone chromosomal proteins (HMGN1 and HMGN2) were studied by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy to elucidate structural changes in the nucleosome induced by HMGN binding. Unlike previous studies that used a nucleosome extracted from living cells, in this study we utilized a nucleosome reconstituted from unmodified recombinant histones synthesized in Escherichia coli and a 189-bp synthetic DNA fragment harboring a nucleosome positioning sequence. This DNA fragment consists of 5′-TATAAACGCC-3′ repeats that has a high affinity to the histone octamer. A nucleosome containing a unique octamer-binding sequence at a specific location on the DNA was produced at sufficiently high yield for spectroscopic analysis. CD data have indicated that both HMGN1 and HMGN2 can increase the winding angle of the nucleosome DNA, but the extent of the structural changes induced by these proteins differs significantly. This suggests HMGN1 and HMGN2 would have different abilities to facilitate nucleosome remodeling.