Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The precise structure of the chromatin fiber in the cell is not known in detail. [10] This level of chromatin structure is thought to be the form of heterochromatin, which contains mostly transcriptionally silent genes. Electron microscopy studies have demonstrated that the 30 nm fiber is highly dynamic such that it unfolds into a 10 nm fiber ...
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.
Within chromosomes, DNA is held in complexes with structural proteins. These proteins organize the DNA into a compact structure called chromatin. In eukaryotes, this structure involves DNA binding to a complex of small basic proteins called histones, while in prokaryotes multiple types of proteins are involved.
Euchromatin (also called "open chromatin") is a lightly packed form of chromatin (DNA, RNA, and protein) that is enriched in genes, and is often (but not always) under active transcription. Euchromatin stands in contrast to heterochromatin, which is tightly packed and less accessible for transcription. 92% of the human genome is euchromatic. [1]
The solenoid structure can increase this to be 40 times smaller. [2] When DNA is compacted into the solenoid structure can still be transcriptionally active in certain areas. [7] It is the secondary chromatin structure that is important for this transcriptional repression as in vivo active genes are assembled in large tertiary chromatin ...
All cells of a given species package the same regions of DNA in constitutive heterochromatin, and thus in all cells, any genes contained within the constitutive heterochromatin will be poorly expressed. For example, all human chromosomes 1, 9, 16, and the Y-chromosome contain large regions of constitutive heterochromatin. In most organisms ...
The first step of chromatin structure duplication is the synthesis of histone proteins: H1, H2A, H2B, H3, H4. These proteins are synthesized during S phase of the cell cycle. There are different mechanisms which contribute to the increase of histone synthesis.
However, in order for the cell to function, proteins must be able to access the sequence information contained within the DNA, in spite of its tightly-packed nature. Hence, the cell has a number of mechanisms in place to control how DNA is organized. [4] Moreover, nuclear organization can play a role in establishing cell identity.