Sequence-encoded H2A.Z nucleosome dynamics control DNA unwrapping and SUV420H1 recognition

Authors

Zhang, T., Huang, L., Li, X., Liu, B., Li, J., Shi, C., Fu, S., Zhou, Z., Xiang, S.

Abstract

H2A.Z and canonical H2A adopt nearly identical nucleosomal folds, yet their distinct chromatin functions are not captured by static structural analysis. Using fast magic-angle spinning 1H-detected solid-state NMR, we show that H2A.Z possesses enhanced backbone flexibility in the L1 loop and the 2-L2 region (M2) relative to H2A. Chimeric segment-swapping demonstrates that these dynamic signatures are locally sequence-encoded and functionally transplantable. The inherent mobility of the M2 region promotes nucleosomal DNA-end unwrapping and persists when DNA ends are stabilized by linker histone H1 or opened by SUV420H1, indicating that this mobility is intrinsic rather than a passive consequence of DNA detachment. Chemical shift perturbation mapping and catalytic assays further show that SUV420H1 reads this H2A.Z-specific conformational landscape: the M2 region, together with the H2A.Z DS motif, supports variant-selective methyltransferase activity. These findings establish an axis of sequence-dynamics-accessibility-recognition along which local backbone fluctuations serve as physical determinants of epigenetic enzyme specificity.

Preprint server: bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 13 Jun 2026.

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