Active maintenance of accessible chromatin at poised meiotic promoters by the NFYA-NURF axis is required for meiotic entry in mice
- 1Stockholm University
Abstract
Developmental genes often acquire accessible chromatin prior to their activation, yet the mechanisms regulating this permissive state remain poorly understood. During spermatogenesis, many meiotic gene promoters display this poised state in spermatogonia, characterized by accessible promoters and paused RNA Pol II occupancy before their activation during meiosis. Here, we identify the NURF chromatin remodeling complex, comprised of SMARCA5 and its accessory subunit BPTF, as a key regulator of this process. We demonstrate that the transcription factor NFYA interacts with SMARCA5 and is required for its occupancy at poised meiotic gene promoters. Approximately one-third of poised meiotic gene promoters is co-occupied by NFYA, SMARCA5, and BPTF. Germline deletion of Smarca5 disrupts chromatin accessibility at poised meiotic promoters, impairs transcriptional program required for mitosis-to-meiosis transition, resulting in developmental arrest at meiotic entry. These findings identify NFYA-NURF as a key regulatory axis that regulates accessible chromatin at developmentally poised meiotic genes and primes them for activation later during meiosis.
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BibTeX
@misc{eghbali2026active,
title = {{Active maintenance of accessible chromatin at poised meiotic promoters by the NFYA-NURF axis is required for meiotic entry in mice}},
author = {A. Eghbali and M. Saflund and M. Askari and M. M. Abdi and A.-K. Ostlund Farrants and T. Yu and D. M. Ozata},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.07.757370},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757370v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Active maintenance of accessible chromatin at poised meiotic promoters by the NFYA-NURF axis is required for meiotic entry in mice
AU - A. Eghbali
AU - M. Saflund
AU - M. Askari
AU - M. M. Abdi
AU - A.-K. Ostlund Farrants
AU - T. Yu
AU - D. M. Ozata
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.07.757370
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757370v1
AB - Developmental genes often acquire accessible chromatin prior to their activation, yet the mechanisms regulating this permissive state remain poorly understood. During spermatogenesis, many meiotic gene promoters display this poised state in spermatogonia, characterized by accessible promoters and paused RNA Pol II occupancy before their activation during meiosis. Here, we identify the NURF chromatin remodeling complex, comprised of SMARCA5 and its accessory subunit BPTF, as a key regulator of this process. We demonstrate that the transcription factor NFYA interacts with SMARCA5 and is required for its occupancy at poised meiotic gene promoters. Approximately one-third of poised meiotic gene promoters is co-occupied by NFYA, SMARCA5, and BPTF. Germline deletion of Smarca5 disrupts chromatin accessibility at poised meiotic promoters, impairs transcriptional program required for mitosis-to-meiosis transition, resulting in developmental arrest at meiotic entry. These findings identify NFYA-NURF as a key regulatory axis that regulates accessible chromatin at developmentally poised meiotic genes and primes them for activation later during meiosis.
ER -