MPE-seq, a New Method for the Genome-wide Analysis of Chromatin Structure

In this study we developed MPE-seq, a method for the genome-wide characterization of chromatin that involves the digestion of nuclei with methidiumpropyl-EDTA-Fe(II) [MPE-Fe(II)] followed by massively parallel sequencing. Like micrococcal nuclease (MNase), MPE-Fe(II) preferentially cleaves the linker DNA between nucleosomes. We also performed MNase-seq as a comparison. We further performed ChIP-seq using chromatin samples obtained by MPE-Fe(II) or MNase digestion of nuclei. Nuclei from J1 mouse embryonic stem cells were treated with MPE-Fe(II) or MNase. The isolated DNA was sequenced by Illumina HiSeq sequencers. Some of the digested chromatin was studied by performing ChIP-seq using antibodies against histone H2B or H3.