The nucleosome: a transparent, slippery, sticky and yet stable DNA-protein complex

Roughly three quarters of eucaryotic DNA are tightly wrapped onto protein cylinders organized in so-called nucleosomes. Despite this fact, the wrapped DNA cannot be inert since DNA is at the heart of many crucial life processes. We focus here on physical mechanisms that might allow nucleosomes to pe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European physical journal. E, Soft matter and biological physics Soft matter and biological physics, 2006-03, Vol.19 (3), p.251-262
Main Author: Schiessel, H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Base Sequence
Binding Sites
DNA - chemistry
Kinetics
Models, Molecular
Nuclear Proteins - chemistry
Nucleosomes - chemistry
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Summary:Roughly three quarters of eucaryotic DNA are tightly wrapped onto protein cylinders organized in so-called nucleosomes. Despite this fact, the wrapped DNA cannot be inert since DNA is at the heart of many crucial life processes. We focus here on physical mechanisms that might allow nucleosomes to perform a great deal of such processes, specifically 1) on unwrapping fluctuations that give DNA-binding proteins access to the wrapped DNA portions without disrupting the nucleosome as a whole, 2) on corkscrew sliding along DNA and some implications and on 3) tail-bridging-induced attraction between nucleosomes as a means of controlling higher-order folding.
ISSN:1292-8941
1292-895X
DOI:10.1140/epje/i2005-10049-y