HP1α binding creates a local barrier against transcription activation and persists during chromatin decondensation.
Mouse pericentric heterochromatin forms compacted, transcriptionally silent domains, termed chromocenters, that are enriched in heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1). Whether HP1α represses chromocenters by binding locally or by maintaining a phase-separated compartment is unresolved. We investigated this question by recruiting transcriptional activators to mouse fibroblast chromocenters and quantifying repression at a transcription reporter. HP1α established a promoter-proximal barrier that suppressed weaker activators (VP16) but was overcome by stronger ones (VP64-p65-Rta [VPR] and p65). Activator-induced decondensation and transcription occurred without displacing HP1α or H3K9 trimethylation, and HP1α retained its granular distribution and stoichiometric binding dynamics. Multi-color super-resolution imaging revealed spatial segregation of transcribed and HP1α-bound regions at the nanodomain scale. A nanodomain model captured how repeat clusters independently transition between silenced and activated states. These data establish that HP1α and H3K9me3 act through independently switchable nanodomains, accounting for chromocenter regulation without invoking phase separation.