Initiation and bidirectional propagation of chromatin assembly from a target site for nucleotide excision repair

To restore full genomic integrity in a eukaryotic cell, DNA repair processes have to be coordinated with the resetting of nucleosomal organization. We have established a cell-free system using Drosophilia embryo extracts to investigate the mechanism linking de novo nucleosome formation to nucleotide excision repair (NER), Closed-circular DNA containing a uniquely placed cisplatin-DNA adduct was used to follow chromatin assembly specifically from a site of NER, Nucleosome formation was initiated from a target site for NER, The assembly of nucleosomes propagated bidirectionally, creating a regular nucleosomal array extending beyond the initiation site, Furthermore, this chromatin assembly was still effective when the repair synthesis step in the NER process was inhibited.