RESEARCH ARTICLE Structural reorganization of the chromatin remodeling enzyme Chd1 upon engagement with nucleosomes Ramasubramanian Sundaramoorthy1, Amanda L Hughes1, Vijender Singh1, Nicola Wiechens1, Daniel P Ryan1†, Hassane El-Mkami2, Maxim Petoukhov3, Dmitri I Svergun3, Barbara Treutlein4‡, Salina Quack4, Monika Fischer4, Jens Michaelis4, Bettina Bo¨ ttcher5, David G Norman6, Tom Owen-Hughes1* 1Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom; 2School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom; 3Hamburg Outstation, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Hamburg, Germany; 4Institute for Biophysics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany; 5Lehrstuhl fu¨ r Biochemie, Rudolf-Virchow Zentrum, Universitat Wu¨ rzburg, Wu¨ rzburg, Germany; 6Nucleic Acids Structure Research Group, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom Abstract The yeast Chd1 protein acts to position nucleosomes across genomes. Here, we model *For correspondence: t.a. the structure of the Chd1 protein in solution and when bound to nucleosomes. In the apo state, the
[email protected] DNA-binding domain contacts the edge of the nucleosome while in the presence of the non- Present address: †Department hydrolyzable ATP analog, ADP-beryllium fluoride, we observe additional interactions between the of Genome Sciences, The John ATPase domain and the adjacent DNA gyre 1.5 helical turns from the dyad axis of symmetry. Curtin School of Medical Binding in this conformation involves unravelling the outer turn of nucleosomal DNA and requires Research, The Australian substantial reorientation of the DNA-binding domain with respect to the ATPase domains. The National University, Canberra, orientation of the DNA-binding domain is mediated by sequences in the N-terminus and mutations Australia; ‡Max Planck Institute to this part of the protein have positive and negative effects on Chd1 activity.