Specificity, propagation and memory of pericentric heterochromatin in mouse fibroblasts

We assembled a quantitative map for the abundance and interactions of 16 factors related to PCH in living cells and found that stably bound complexes of the histone methyltransferase Suv39h1/2 demarcate the PCH state. From the experimental data we developed a predictive mathematical model that explains how chromatin-bound Suv39h1/2 complexes act as nucleation sites and propagate a spatially confined PCH domain with elevated histone H3 trimethylation levels via chromatin dynamics. Enrichment of HP1, Suv39h1/h2, H3K9me3 and H3K36me3 was assessed by ChIP-seq in NPCs derived from ESCs showing differential occupation at intergenic major satellite repeats and enrichment of heterochromatin factors. Overall design: ChIP-seq of HP1, Suv39h1, Suv39h2, H3K9me3, H3K36me3 in NPCs