Measuring Genome-Wide Nascent Nucleosome Assembly Using ReIN-Map

The successful assembly of nucleosomes following DNA replication is critically important for both the inheritance of epigenetic information and the maintenance of genome integrity. This process, termed DNA replication-coupled (RC) nucleosome assemblyNucleosomereplication-coupled nucleosome assembly, requires that DNA replication and nucleosome assembly function in a highly coordinated fashion to transmit both genetic and epigenetic information. In this chapter, we describe a genome-wide method for measuring nucleosome occupancy patterns on nascent strands, which we have termed Replication-Intermediate Nucleosome Mapping (ReIN-Map), to monitor the RC nucleosome assembly level genome-wide in vivo. This method takes advantage of next-generation sequencing and in vivo labeling of newly synthesized DNA using a thymidine analogue, 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU), and involves parallel analyses of the nucleosome formation using micrococcal nuclease (MNase) digestion of chromatin (MNase-seq) and of the newly synthesized DNA levels using sonication shearing of chromatin s (Sonication-seq). Replicated chromatin was enriched by immunoprecipitation using antibodies against BrdU (BrdU-IP), which is incorporated into DNA during DNA synthesis; the DNA is then subjected to strand-specific sequencing.