The critical role of the INO80 chromatin remodeling complex in transcription is commonly attributed to its nucleosome sliding activity. Here, we have found that INO80 prefers to mobilize hexasomes over nucleosomes. INO80’s preference for hexasomes reaches up to ∼60 fold when flanking DNA overhangs approach ∼18-bp linkers in yeast gene bodies. Correspondingly, deletion of INO80 significantly affects the positions of hexasome-sized particles within yeast genes in vivo. Our results raise the possibility that INO80 promotes nucleosome sliding by dislodging an H2A-H2B dimer, thereby making a nucleosome transiently resemble a hexasome. We propose that this mechanism allows INO80 to rapidly mobilize nucleosomes at promoters and hexasomes within gene bodies. Rapid repositioning of hexasomes that are generated in the wake of transcription may mitigate spurious transcription. More generally, such versatility may explain how INO80 regulates chromatin architecture during the diverse processes of transcription, replication, and repair.

INO80 染色质重塑复合物在转录中的关键作用通常归因于其核小体滑动活性。在这里，我们发现 INO80 更喜欢动员六体而不是核小体。当侧翼 DNA 突出端接近酵母基因体中的 ∼18-bp 连接子时，INO80 对六体的偏好高达 ∼60 倍。相应地，INO80 的缺失显着影响体内酵母基因内六体大小的颗粒的位置。我们的结果提出了这样一种可能性：INO80 通过移动 H2A-H2B 二聚体来促进核小体滑动，从而使核小体暂时类似于六体。我们认为这种机制允许 INO80 快速动员启动子处的核小体和基因体内的六体。转录后产生的六体的快速重新定位可能会减少虚假转录。更一般地说，这种多功能性可以解释 INO80 如何在转录、复制和修复的不同过程中调节染色质结构。