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Mecp2 Binds To Nucleosome Free (Linker Dna) Regions And To H3k9/H3k27 Methylated Nucleosomes In The Brain, Anita Thambirajah, Marlee Ng, Lindsay Frehlick, Andra Li, Jason Serpa, Evgeniy Petrotchenko, Begonia Silva-Moreno, Kristal Missiaen, Christoph Borchers, J. Hall, Ryan Mackie, Frank Lutz, Brent Gowen, Michael Hendzel, Philippe Georgel, Juan Ausio

Philippe T. Georgel

Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is a chromatin-binding protein that mediates transcriptional regulation, and is highly abundant in brain. The nature of its binding to reconstituted templates has been well characterized in vitro. However, its interactions with native chromatin are less understood. Here we show that MeCP2 displays a distinct distribution within fractionated chromatin from various tissues and cell types. Artificially induced global changes in DNA methylation by 3-aminobenzamide or 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine, do not significantly affect the distribution or amount of MeCP2 in HeLa S3 or 3T3 cells. Most MeCP2 in brain is chromatin-bound and localized within highly nuclease-accessible regions. We also …