Transcription-coupled recruitment of human CHD1 and CHD2 influences chromatin accessibility and histone H3 and H3.3 occupancy at active chromatin regions

BACKGROUND: CHD1 and CHD2 chromatin remodeling enzymes play important roles in development, cancer and differentiation. At a molecular level, the mechanisms are not fully understood but include transcriptional regulation, nucleosome organization and turnover. RESULTS: Here we show human CHD1 and CHD2 enzymes co-occupy active chromatin regions associated with transcription start sites (TSS), enhancer like regions and active tRNA genes. We demonstrate that their recruitment is transcription-coupled. CHD1 and CHD2 show distinct binding profiles across active TSS regions. Depletion of CHD1 influences chromatin accessibility at TSS and enhancer-like chromatin regions. CHD2 depletion causes increased histone H3 and reduced histone variant H3.3 occupancy. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that transcription-coupled recruitment of CHD1 and CHD2 occurs at transcribed gene TSSs and at intragenic and intergenic enhancer-like sites. The recruitment of CHD1 and CHD2 regulates the architecture of active chromatin regions through chromatin accessibility and nucleosome disassembly. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1756-8935-8-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.