The regulatory role of DNA supercoiling in nucleoprotein complex assembly and genetic activity

We argue that dynamic changes in DNA supercoiling in vivo determine both how DNA is packaged and how it is accessed for transcription and for other manipulations such as recombination. In both bacteria and eukaryotes, the principal generators of DNA superhelicity are DNA translocases, supplemented i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biophysical reviews 2016-11, Vol.8 (Suppl 1), p.5-22
Main Authors: Muskhelishvili, Georgi, Travers, Andrew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteria
Binding
Biochemistry
Biological and Medical Physics
Biological Techniques
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biophysics
Cell Biology
Chromatin
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA topoisomerase
Eukaryotes
Generators
In vivo methods and tests
Life Sciences
Membrane Biology
Nanotechnology
Proteins
Recombination
Review
Supercoiling
Transcription
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We argue that dynamic changes in DNA supercoiling in vivo determine both how DNA is packaged and how it is accessed for transcription and for other manipulations such as recombination. In both bacteria and eukaryotes, the principal generators of DNA superhelicity are DNA translocases, supplemented in bacteria by DNA gyrase. By generating gradients of superhelicity upstream and downstream of their site of activity, translocases enable the differential binding of proteins which preferentially interact with respectively more untwisted or more writhed DNA. Such preferences enable, in principle, the sequential binding of different classes of protein and so constitute an essential driver of chromatin organization.
ISSN:1867-2450
1867-2469
DOI:10.1007/s12551-016-0237-3