Direct Observation of Cell-Cycle-Dependent Interactions between CTCF and Chromatin

The three-dimensional arrangement of chromatin encodes regulatory traits important for nuclear processes such as transcription and replication. Chromatin topology is in part mediated by the architectural protein CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) that binds to the boundaries of topologically associating domains. Whereas sites of CTCF interactions are well characterized, little is known on how long CTCF binds to chromatin and how binding evolves during the cell cycle. We monitored CTCF-chromatin interactions by live cell single molecule tracking in different phases of the cell cycle. In G1-, S-, and G2-phases, a majority of CTCF molecules was bound transiently (∼0.2 s) to chromatin, whereas minor fractions were bound dynamically (∼4 s) or stably (>15 min). During mitosis, CTCF was mostly excluded from chromatin. Our data suggest that CTCF scans DNA in search for two different subsets of specific target sites and provide information on the timescales over which topologically associating domains might be restructured. During S-phase, dynamic and stable interactions decreased considerably compared to G1-phase, but were resumed in G2-phase, indicating that specific interactions need to be dissolved for replication to proceed.