bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.04.075580; this version posted May 5, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. Importin α2 associates with chromatin via a novel DNA binding domain Kazuya Jibiki1, Takashi Kodama2, 5, Atsushi Suenaga1,3, Yota Kawase1, Noriko Shibazaki3, Shin Nomoto1, Seiya Nagasawa3, Misaki Nagashima3, Shieri Shimodan3, Renan Kikuchi3, Noriko Saitoh4, Yoshihiro Yoneda5, Ken-ich Akagi5, 6, Noriko Yasuhara1, 3* 1 Graduate School of Integrated Basic Sciences, Nihon University, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan 2 Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan 3 Department of Biosciences, College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon University, Setagaya- ku, Tokyo, Japan 4 Division of Cancer Biology, The Cancer Institute of JFCR, Tokyo, Japan 5 National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition (NIBIOHN), Osaka, Japan 6 present address: Environmental Metabolic Analysis Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan * Corresponding author. E-mail:
[email protected] bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.04.075580; this version posted May 5, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. Abstract The nuclear transport of functional proteins is important for facilitating appropriate gene expression. The proteins of the importin α family of nuclear transport receptors operate via several pathways to perform their nuclear protein import function. Additionally, these proteins are also reported to possess other functions, including chromatin association and gene regulation.