Mus musculus Epigenomics

Lamins are components of the peripheral nuclear lamina and interact with heterochromatic genomic regions, termed lamina-associated domains (LADs). In contrast to lamin B1, lamin A/C also localizes throughout the nucleus, where it associates with the chromatin-binding protein lamina-associated polypeptide (LAP) 2a. Here we show lamin A/C also interacts with euchromatin, as determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses of eu- and heterochromatin-enriched samples. By way of contrast, lamin B1 was only found associated with heterochromatin. Euchromatic regions occupied by lamin A/C overlap with those bound by LAP2a, the depletion of which shifts binding of lamin A/C towards more heterochromatic regions. These alterations in lamin A/C chromatin interaction affect epigenetic histone marks in euchromatin without significantly affecting gene expression, while loss of lamin A/C in heterochromatic regions increased gene expression. Our data show a novel role of nucleoplasmic lamin A/C and LAP2a in regulating euchromatin.