RT Journal
A1 Kim, Jung-Hyun
A1 Ebersole, Thomas
A1 Kouprina, Natalay
A1 Noskov, Vladimir N.
A1 Ohzeki, Jun-Ichirou
A1 Masumoto, Hiroshi
A1 Mravinac, Brankica
A1 Sullivan, Beth A.
A1 Pavlicek, Adam
A1 Dovat, Sinisa
A1 Pack, Svetlana D.
A1 Kwon, Yoo-Wook
A1 Flanagan, Patrick T.
A1 Loukinov, Dmitri
A1 Lobanenkov, Victor
A1 Larionov, Vladimir
T1 Human gamma-satellite DNA maintains open chromatin structure and protects a transgene from epigenetic silencing
JF Genome Research 
JO Genome Research 
YR 2009 
FD April 01 
VO 19 
IS 4 
SP 533 
OP 544 
DO 10.1101/gr.086496.108 
UL http://genome.cshlp.org/content/19/4/533.abstract 
AB The role of repetitive DNA sequences in pericentromeric regions with respect to kinetochore/heterochromatin structure and function is poorly understood. Here, we use a mouse erythroleukemia cell (MEL) system for studying how repetitive DNA assumes or is assembled into different chromatin structures. We show that human gamma-satellite DNA arrays allow a transcriptionally permissive chromatin conformation in an adjacent transgene and efficiently protect it from epigenetic silencing. These arrays contain CTCF and Ikaros binding sites. In MEL cells, this gamma-satellite DNA activity depends on binding of Ikaros proteins involved in differentiation along the hematopoietic pathway. Given our discovery of gamma-satellite DNA in pericentromeric regions of most human chromosomes and a dynamic chromatin state of gamma-satellite arrays in their natural location, we suggest that gamma-satellite DNA represents a unique region of the functional centromere with a possible role in preventing heterochromatin spreading beyond the pericentromeric region.