Mapping of the juxtacentromeric heterochromatin-euchromatin frontier of human chromosome 21

Euchromatin and heterochromatin are functional compartments of the genome. However, little is known about the structure and the precise location of the heterochromatin-euchromatin boundaries in higher eukaryotes. Constitutive heterochromatin in centromeric regions is associated with (1) specific histone methylation patterns, (2) high levels of DNA methylation, (3) low recombination frequency, and (4) the repression of transcription. All of this contrasts with the permissive structure of euchromatin found along chromosome arms. On the sequence level, the transition between these two domains consists most often of patchworks of segmental duplications. We present here a comprehensive analysis of gene expression, DNA methylation in CpG islands, distribution of histone isoforms, and recombination activity for the juxtacentromeric (or pericentromeric) region of the long arm of human chromosome 21. We demonstrate that most HapMap data are reliable within this region. We show that high linkage disequilibrium between pairs of SNPs extends 719-737 kb from the centromeric alpha-satellite. In the same region we find a peak of histone isoforms H3K9Me3 and H3K27Me (715-822 kb distal to the alpha-satellite). In normal somatic cells, CpG islands proximal to this peak are highly methylated, whereas distal CpG islands are not or very little methylated. This methylation profile undergoes dramatic changes in cancer cells and during spermatogenesis. As a consequence, transcription from heterochromatic genes is activated in the testis, and aberrant gene activation can occur during neoplastic transformation. Our data indicate that the frontier between the juxtacentromeric heterochromatic domain and euchromatic domain of the long arm of chromosome 21 is marked by a heterochromatic peak located approximately 750 kb distal to the alpha-satellite.