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Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. [1] The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in reinforcing the DNA during cell division , preventing DNA damage , and regulating gene expression ...
Chromatin structure is the more decondensed state, i.e. the 10-nm conformation allows transcription. [33] Heterochromatin vs. euchromatin. During interphase (the period of the cell cycle where the cell is not dividing), two types of chromatin can be distinguished: Euchromatin, which consists of DNA that is active, e.g., being expressed as protein.
When cells enter mitosis, the sister chromatids (the two copies of each chromosomal DNA molecule resulting from DNA replication in chromatin form) are linked along their length by the action of the cohesin complex. It is now believed that this complex is mostly released from chromosome arms during prophase, so that by the time the chromosomes ...
Steps in nucleosome assembly. CAF-1 is shown in yellow interacting with the H3-H4 tetramer. Chromatin assembly factor-1 (CAF-1) is a protein complex — including Chaf1a (p150), Chaf1b (p60), and p48 subunits in humans, or Cac1, Cac2, and Cac3, respectively, in yeast— that assembles histone tetramers onto replicating DNA during the S phase of the cell cycle.
Packaging of nucleosomes into higher order chromatin structures involves the use of loops and coils. In eukaryotes, such as humans, roughly 3.2 billion nucleotides are spread out over 23 different chromosomes (males have both an X chromosome and a Y chromosome instead of a pair of X chromosomes as seen in females). Each chromosome consists ...
Histone post-translational modifications were first identified and listed as having a potential regulatory role on the synthesis of RNA in 1964. [1] Since then, over several decades, chromatin theory has evolved. Chromatin subunit models as well as the notion of the nucleosome were established in 1973 and 1974, respectively. [2]
In contrast to most eukaryotic cells, mature sperm cells largely use protamines to package their genomic DNA, most likely to achieve an even higher packaging ratio. [17] Histone equivalents and a simplified chromatin structure have also been found in Archaea, [18] suggesting that eukaryotes are not the only organisms that use nucleosomes.
While most histone H1 in the nucleus is bound to chromatin, H1 molecules shuttle between chromatin regions at a fairly high rate. [23] [24]It is difficult to understand how such a dynamic protein could be a structural component of chromatin, but it has been suggested that the steady-state equilibrium within the nucleus still strongly favors association between H1 and chromatin, meaning that ...