macroH2A1 ChIP-seq in G1/S phase and metaphase

The histone variant macroH2A forms large chromatin domains and serves as a transcriptional repression marker. It has been found that the overall quantity of macroH2A deposition on chromatin undergoes dynamic changes during the cell cycle. However, the genomic features relevant to these dynamic changes in macroH2A1 deposition during the cell cycle remain poorly understood. We combined ChIP-seq and cell synchronization in mouse NIH-3T3 cells to examine the dynamic changes of macroH2A1 deposition on the genome between G1/S phase and metaphase. Interestingly, we observed that macroH2A1 deposition dynamically changes within the large macroH2A1 domain at G1/S phase and metaphase, which was associated with transcriptional activity. These dynamic changes occurring at gene bodies can specifically mark cell-cycle-specific genes. Taken together, we propose that macroH2A1 is a dynamic histone variant associated with cell-cycle-specific genes and plays a crucial role in cell-cycle-specific transcriptional repression. Overall design: Chromatin immunoprecipitation and DNA-sequencing (ChIP-seq) for histone variants macroH2A1 in NIH-3T3 cells in G1/S phase and metaphase.