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Updated: May 7, 2026

Iterative Optimization of DNA Duplexes for Crystallization of SeqA-DNA Complexes
Published on: November 1, 2012
Crystal structure of the overlapping dinucleosome composed of hexasome and octasome
Daiki Kato1, Akihisa Osakabe1, Yasuhiro Arimura1
1Laboratory of Structural Biology, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 2-2 Wakamatsu-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8480, Japan.
Abstract:
Nucleosomes are dynamic entities that are repositioned along DNA by chromatin remodeling processes. A nucleosome repositioned by the switch-sucrose nonfermentable (SWI/SNF) remodeler collides with a neighbor and forms the intermediate "overlapping dinucleosome." Here, we report the crystal structure of the overlapping dinucleosome, in which two nucleosomes are associated, at 3.14-angstrom resolution. In the overlapping dinucleosome structure, the unusual "hexasome" nucleosome, composed of the histone hexamer lacking one H2A-H2B dimer from the conventional histone octamer, contacts the canonical "octasome" nucleosome, and they intimately associate. Consequently, about 250 base pairs of DNA are left-handedly wrapped in three turns, without a linker DNA segment between the hexasome and octasome moieties. The overlapping dinucleosome structure may provide important information to understand how nucleosome repositioning occurs during the chromatin remodeling process.
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