SummaryATP-dependent chromatin remodellers allow access to DNA for transcription factors and the general transcription machinery, but whether mammalian chromatin remodellers1–3 target specific nucleosomes to regulate transcription is unclear. Here, we present genome-wide remodeller-nucleosome interaction profiles for Chd1, Chd2, Chd4, Chd6, Chd8, Chd9, Brg1 and Ep400 in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. These remodellers bind one or both full nucleosomes that flank MNase-defined nucleosome-free promoter regions (NFRs), where they separate divergent transcription. Surprisingly, large CpG-rich NFRs that extend downstream of annotated transcriptional start sites (TSSs) are nevertheless chromatinized with non-nucleosomal or subnucleosomal histone variants (H3.3 and H2A.Z) and modifications (H3K4me3 and H3K27ac). RNA polymerase (pol) II therefore navigates hundreds of bp of altered chromatin in the sense direction before encountering an MNase-resistant nucleosome at the 3′ end of the NFR. Transcriptome analysis upon remodeller depletion reveals reciprocal mechanisms of transcriptional regulation by remodellers. Whereas at active genes individual remodellers play either positive or negative roles via altering nucleosome stability, at polycomb-enriched bivalent genes the same remodellers act in an opposite manner. These findings indicate that remodellers target specific nucleosomes at the edge of NFRs, where they regulate ES cell transcriptional programs.

Although the conserved AAA ATPase and bromodomain factor, ATAD2, has been described as a transcriptional co-activator upregulated in many cancers, its function remains poorly understood. Here, using a combination of ChIP-seq, ChIP-proteomics, and RNA-seq experiments in embryonic stem cells where Atad2 is normally highly expressed, we found that Atad2 is an abundant nucleosome-bound protein present on active genes, associated with chromatin remodelling, DNA replication, and DNA repair factors. A structural analysis of its bromodomain and subsequent investigations demonstrate that histone acetylation guides ATAD2 to chromatin, resulting in an overall increase of chromatin accessibility and histone dynamics, which is required for the proper activity of the highly expressed gene fraction of the genome. While in exponentially growing cells Atad2 appears dispensable for cell growth, in differentiating ES cells Atad2 becomes critical in sustaining specific gene expression programmes, controlling proliferation and differentiation. Altogether, this work defines Atad2 as a facilitator of general chromatin-templated activities such as transcription.