Transcription factor access is mediated by accurately positioned nucleosomes on the mouse mammary tumor virus promoter.

A fragment of the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) promoter was reconstituted from pure histones into a dinucleosome with uniquely positioned octamer cores. Core boundaries for the in vitro-assembled dinucleosome corresponded to the observed in vivo phasing pattern for long terminal repeat nucleosomes A and B. Nuclear factor 1 (NF1), a constituent of the MMTV transcription initiation complex, was excluded from the assembled dinucleosome, whereas the glucocorticoid receptor was able to bind. During transcription of MMTV in vivo, displacement of nucleosome B was necessary to permit assembly of the initiation complex. These results indicate that the nucleoprotein structure of the promoter can provide differential access to sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins and that active chromatin remodeling can occur during transcription activation.