Description
The Drosophila insulator-binding proteins (IBPs) dCTCF/Beaf32 mark the physical borders of chromosomal domains involving co-factors that participate in long-range interactions. Chromosomal borders are further enriched in specific histone modifications yet the implication of histone modifiers and nucleosome dynamics remains largely unknown in such context. Here, we show that IBP depletion impairs nucleosome dynamics over genes flanked by their binding sites. Biochemical purification identifies a key histone methyltransferase of H3K36, NSD/dMes-4, as a novel co-factor of IBPs involved in chromatin accessibility, which specifically co-regulates hundreds of genes flanked by Beaf32/dCTCF. dMes-4 presets chromatin before the recruitment of transcriptional activators including DREF that triggers Set2/Hypb-mediated H3K36me3, RNA splicing and nucleosome positioning. Our results unveil a model for how IBPs regulate gene expression and nucleosome dynamics through NSD/dMes-4, which may contribute to regulate H3K27me3 spreading. Together, our data suggest a division of labor for how IBPs may dynamically regulate chromatin organization depending on distinct co-factors. Overall design: mRNA profiles of Beaf32-depleted or Wild-Type control Drosophila S2 cells by RNASeq (Illumina)