A CHROMATIN FOLDING MODEL THAT INCORPORATES LINKER VARIABILITY GENERATES FIBERS RESEMBLING THE NATIVE STRUCTURES

被引:221
作者
WOODCOCK, CL [1 ]
GRIGORYEV, SA [1 ]
HOROWITZ, RA [1 ]
WHITAKER, N [1 ]
机构
[1] UNIV MASSACHUSETTS, DEPT MATH & STAT, AMHERST, MA 01003 USA
关键词
NUCLEOSOME; CHROMATIN FIBER;
D O I
10.1073/pnas.90.19.9021
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
The ''30-nm'' chromatin fibers, as observed in eukaryotic nuclei, are considered a discrete level in a hierarchy of DNA folding. At present, there is considerable debate as to how the nucleosomes and linker DNA are organized within chromatin fibers, and a number of models have been proposed, many of which are based on helical symmetry and imply specific contacts between nucleosomes. However, when observed in nuclei or after isolation, chromatin fibers show considerable structural irregularity. In the present study, chromatin folding is considered solely in terms of the known properties of the nucleosome-linker unit, taking into account the relative rotation between consecutive nucleosomes that results from the helical twist of DNA. Model building based on this premise, and with a constant length of linker DNA between consecutive nucleosomes, results in a family of fiber- and ribbon-like structures. When the linker length between nucleosomes is allowed to vary, as occurs in nature, fibers showing the types of irregularity observed in nuclei and in isolated chromatin are created. The potential application of the model in determining the three-dimensional organization of chromatin in which nucleosome positions are known is discussed.
引用
收藏
页码:9021 / 9025
页数:5
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