Abstract

Chromatin accessibility is modulated in a variety of ways to create open and closed chromatin states, both of which are critical for eukaryotic gene regulation. At the single molecule level, how accessibility is regulated in the chromatin fiber composed of canonical or variant nucleosomes is a fundamental question in the field. Here, we developed a single-molecule tracking method where we could analyze thousands of canonical H3 and centromeric variant nucleosomes imaged by high-speed atomic force microscopy. This approach allowed us to investigate how changes in nucleosome dynamics in vitro inform us about chromatin accessibility in vivo. By high-speed atomic force microscopy, we tracked chromatin dynamics in real time and determined the MSD and diffusion constant for the variant centromeric CENP-A nucleosome. Furthermore, an essential kinetochore protein CENP-C reduces the diffusion constant and mobility of centromeric nucleosomes along the chromatin fiber. We subsequently interrogated how CENP-C modulates CENP-A chromatin dynamics in vivo. Overexpressing CENP-C resulted in reduced centromeric transcription and impaired loading of new CENP-A molecules. Thus, changes which alter chromatin accessibility in vitro, also correspondingly alter transcription in vivo. These data suggest a model in which variant nucleosomes encode their own diffusion kinetics and mobility, and where binding partners can suppress or enhance mobility.