Structural basis of nucleosome binding and chromatin compaction by PRC1 (A15)

• Subject Area: General Genetics and Functional Genome Biology
• Term: since 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 213249687

In metazoans, the Polycomb repression system plays a central role in maintaining cell fate decisions by keeping developmental regulator genes transcriptionally repressed in cells where these genes must remain inactive. Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1), a key component of this system has been proposed to impose transcriptional repression by compacting chromatin but the architecture of the complex and the mechanism of its interaction with chromatin are not well understood. Here, we will use X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM to determine the structure of the canonical PRC1 complex at atomic resolution and to visualize how the complex interacts with nucleosome templates in order to understand how the complex compacts chromatin.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1064: Chromatin Dynamics
• Applicant Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Project Head: Dr. Jürg Müller