Chromatin Higher-order Structure and Dynamics

Overview

Journal Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol

Specialties Biology
Molecular Biology

Date 2010 May 11

PMID 20452954

Citations 158

Authors

Christopher L Woodcock

Rajarshi P Ghosh

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The primary role of the nucleus as an information storage, retrieval, and replication site requires the physical organization and compaction of meters of DNA. Although it has been clear for many years that nucleosomes constitute the first level of chromatin compaction, this contributes a relatively small fraction of the condensation needed to fit the typical genome into an interphase nucleus or set of metaphase chromosomes, indicating that there are additional "higher order" levels of chromatin condensation. Identifying these levels, their interrelationships, and the principles that govern their occurrence has been a challenging and much discussed problem. In this article, we focus on recent experimental advances and the emerging evidence indicating that structural plasticity and chromatin dynamics play dominant roles in genome organization. We also discuss novel approaches likely to yield important insights in the near future, and suggest research areas that merit further study.

Citing Articles

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