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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 ...
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).
Chromatin can form a tertiary chromatin structure and be compacted even further than the solenoid structure by forming supercoils which have a diameter of around 700 nm. [12] This supercoil is formed by regions of DNA called scaffold/matrix attachment regions (SMARs) attaching to a central scaffolding matrix in the nucleus creating loops of ...
In contrast to most eukaryotic cells, mature sperm cells largely use protamines to package their genomic DNA, most likely to achieve an even higher packaging ratio. [17] Histone equivalents and a simplified chromatin structure have also been found in Archaea, [18] suggesting that eukaryotes are not the only organisms that use nucleosomes.
The packaging of DNA into nucleosomes causes a 10 nanometer fibre which may further condense up to 30 nm fibres [33] Most of the euchromatin in interphase nuclei appears to be in the form of 30-nm fibers. [33] Chromatin structure is the more decondensed state, i.e. the 10-nm conformation allows transcription. [33] Heterochromatin vs. euchromatin
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 .
In eukaryotic organisms, the DNA of each cell is organized into separated chromosomes, which are composed of chromatin, a mixture of DNA and many different groups of proteins. Among them, the structural proteins (that are not histones ) bind the chromatin fiber around themselves forming a long, continuous axis or backbone that gives the ...
As architectural DNA components that organize the genome of eukaryotes into functional units within the cell nucleus, S/MARs mediate structural organization of the chromatin within the nucleus. These elements constitute anchor points of the DNA for the chromatin scaffold and serve to organize the chromatin into structural domains.