Transcription promotes the restoration of chromatin following DNA replication.

Abstract

DNA replication results in the transient eviction of nucleosomes, RNAPII and transcription regulators. How chromatin organization is duplicated on the two daughter strands is a central question in epigenetics. In mammals, transcription restarts on newly replicated DNA within a couple of hours, promoting chromatin accessibility. However, the role of transcription in the restoration of other chromatin determinants following DNA replication remains unclear. Here we have monitored protein re-association to newly replicated DNA upon inhibition of transcription using iPOND coupled to quantitative mass spectrometry. We show that nucleosome assembly and the re-establishment of most histone modifications are uncoupled from transcription restart. However, upon transcription inhibition, the re-association of many proteins was altered, including ATP-dependent remodellers, transcription regulators, the histone variant H2A.Z, histone modifiers as well as the restoration of H3.3K36me2. Finally, transcription also provoked the recruitment of several DNA repair proteins, revealing that transcription promotes chromatin reestablishment post-replication but is also a potential source of genotoxic stress.