Work

Structural analysis of OCT4 binding to human LIN28B nucleosomes

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Structural studies of nucleosomes most commonly involve histones from Xenopus species or humans. Yet, the effect of subtle differences in the amino acid sequences of these histones on key aspects of structure, such as nucleosome assembly, DNA positioning, and transcription factor binding remains unclear. Here, we show that histones from both species can efficiently assemble on the human LIN28B DNA sequence. Using cryogenic electron microscopy we demonstrate that the pioneer transcription factor OCT4 engages with LIN28B nucleosomes assembled with human histones in the same manner as observed in our previous work in which the nucleosomes were assembled with Xenopus histones.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-35959-8

Authors: Kalyan K. Sinha, Mario Halic

Institution: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Language: English

Topic: Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690

Funders: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences