Facultative Heterochromatin: is There a Distinctive Molecular Signature?

Overview

Journal Mol Cell

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2007 Oct 16

PMID 17936700

Citations 238

Authors

Patrick Trojer

Danny Reinberg

Affiliations

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Abstract

The Latin word "facultas" literally means "opportunity." Facultative heterochromatin (fHC) then designates genomic regions in the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell that have the opportunity to adopt open or compact conformations within temporal and spatial contexts. This review focuses on the molecular and functional aspects of fHC that distinguish it from constitutive heterochromatin (cHC) and euchromatin (EC) and discusses various concepts regarding the regulation of fHC structure. We begin by revisiting the historical developments that gave rise to our current appreciation of fHC.

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