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Updated: May 23, 2026

Biochemical Assays for Analyzing Activities of ATP-dependent Chromatin Remodeling Enzymes
Published on: October 25, 2014
Nucleosome recognition and spacing by chromatin remodelling factor ISW1a
1ETH Zürich, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, Schafmattstrasse 20, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland. richmond@mol.biol.ethz.ch
Abstract:
Nucleosomes are actively positioned along DNA by ATP-dependent, chromatin remodelling factors. A structural model for the ISW1a chromatin remodelling factor from Saccharomyces cerevisiae in complex with a dinucleosome substrate was constructed from the X-ray structures of ISW1a (ΔATPase) with and without DNA bound, two different cryo-EM (cryo-electron microscopy) structures of ISW1a (ΔATPase) bound to a nucleosome, and site-directed photo-cross-linking analyses in solution. The X-ray structure of ISW1a (ΔATPase) with DNA bound suggests that DNA sequence may be involved in nucleosome recognition and thereby specificity of promoter interaction. The model suggests how the highly ordered nucleosome arrays observed by mapping nucleosomes in genes and their promoter regions could be generated by a chromatin remodelling factor.
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