Abstract
With every cell division, the genome needs to be faithfully duplicated. Tens of thousands of DNA replication initiation sites (origins of replication) are involved in replicating the human genome. Origin activation is precisely regulated and extensive genome-wide studies found association of origin activation to several different genomic features. The pre-replication complex (pre RC) is the basis for replication initiation and consists of two major subcomponents: the origin recognition complex (ORC) binds DNA and is required for loading of the second component, Mcm2-7 helicases, which initiate DNA replication. Regulation of pre-RC assembly is well studied, however, chromatin features driving pre RC positioning on the human genome remain largely unknown. Genome-wide pre-RC chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) studies are rare and so far only performed for ORC. As Mcm2-7 can translocate from their initial loading site, information about Mcm2-7 positioning are required for full understanding of DNA replication regulation.This work presents the first genome-wide ChIP-seq analysis of the two major pre-RC subcomponents ORC and Mcm2-7 in the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infected Burkitt’s lymphoma cell line Raji. Successful ChIPs were validated on the EBV genome by comparing obtained pre RC positions with already existing pre-RC ChIP-on chip data. On the human genome, pre-RC sequencing results nicely correlated with zones of active replication. Interestingly, zones of replication termination were specifically depleted from pre-RC components, especially from Mcm2 7. Active DNA replication is known to correlate with active transcription. Indeed, strong pre-RC assembly preferentially occurred at sites of active transcriptional regulation, presumably determined by chromatin accessibility. Strong Mcm2-7 binding thereby fluctuated cell cycle-dependently, arguing for Mcm2-7 translocations during G1, possibly depending on the active transcriptional machinery. These results indicate ORC and Mcm2-7 positions being mainly dependent on chromatin accessibility in active chromatin, with Mcm2-7 being the major determinant of replication initiation. In heterochromatin, ORC was enriched at H4K20me3 sites, while Mcm2-7 enrichment was less prominent. Employing a plasmid-based replication system, ORC association to H4K20me3 was proven to promote successful pre-RC assembly and replication initiation, situating direct ORC-chromatin interactions being the major determinant for DNA replication regulation in heterochromatin. Taken together, this study proposes two different modes of pre-RC assembly regulation depending on chromatin environment.