Pioneer factor-nucleosome binding events during differentiation are motif-encoded

Though the in vitro structural and in vivo spatial characteristics of transcription factor (TF) binding are well defined, TF interactions with chromatin and other companion TFs during development are poorly understood. To analyze such interactions in vivo, we profiled several TFs across a time course of human embryonic stem cell differentiation via CUT&RUN epigenome profiling, and studied their interactions with nucleosomes and co-occurring TFs by Enhanced Chromatin Occupancy (EChO), a computational strategy for classifying TF binding characteristics across time and space. EChO shows that at different enhancer targets, the same TF can employ either direct DNA binding, or “pioneer” nucleosome binding to access them. Pioneer binding is correlated with local binding of other TFs and enhancer motif character, including degeneracy at key bases in the pioneer factor target motif. Our strategy reveals a dynamic exchange of TFs at enhancers across developmental time that is aided by pioneer nucleosome binding.