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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 contains the vast majority of the DNA in an organism, but a small amount inherited maternally can be found in the mitochondria. It is present in most cells, with a few exceptions, for example, red blood cells. Histones are responsible for the first and most basic unit of chromosome organization, the nucleosome.
Genome-wide nucleosome positioning maps are now available for many model organisms and human cells. [ 14 ] Linker histones such as H1 and its isoforms are involved in chromatin compaction and sit at the base of the nucleosome near the DNA entry and exit binding to the linker region of the DNA. [ 15 ]
The organization of chromosomes into distinct regions within the nucleus was first proposed in 1885 by Carl Rabl.Later in 1909, with the help of the microscopy technology at the time, Theodor Boveri coined the termed chromosome territories after observing that chromosomes occupy individually distinct nuclear regions. [6]
In eukaryotic cells, DNA is associated with about an equal mass of histone proteins in a highly condensed nucleoprotein complex called chromatin. [14] Deoxyribonucleoproteins in this kind of complex interact to generate a multiprotein regulatory complex in which the intervening DNA is looped or wound.
Chromatin organization: The basic unit of chromatin organization is the nucleosome, which comprises 147 bp of DNA wrapped around a core of histone proteins. The level of nucleosomal packaging can have profound consequences on all DNA-mediated processes including gene regulation.
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 ...
In most eukaryotes, DNA is arranged in the cell nucleus with the help of histones. In this case, the basic level of DNA compaction is the nucleosome, where the double helix is wrapped around the histone octamer containing two copies of each histone H2A, H2B, H3 and H4.