DNA binding by PHF1 prolongs PRC2 residence time on chromatin and thereby promotes H3K27 methylation.

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) trimethylates histone H3 at lysine 27 to mark genes for repression. We measured the dynamics of PRC2 binding on recombinant chromatin and free DNA at the single-molecule level using total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy. PRC2 preferentially binds free DNA with multisecond residence time and midnanomolar affinity.