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The major structures in DNA compaction: DNA, the nucleosome, the 11 nm beads on a string chromatin fibre and the metaphase chromosome. 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.
Smaller molecules are able to pass freely through the nuclear pore to get into and out of the nucleoplasm, while larger proteins need the help of receptors on the surface of the nuclear envelope. [9] The nuclear matrix is also believed to be contained in the nucleoplasm where it functions to maintain the size and shape of the nucleus, in a role ...
The cell nucleus (from Latin nucleus or nuculeus 'kernel, seed'; pl.: nuclei) is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryotic cells.Eukaryotic cells usually have a single nucleus, but a few cell types, such as mammalian red blood cells, have no nuclei, and a few others including osteoclasts have many.
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.
DNA nanotechnology is the field that seeks to design nanoscale structures using the molecular recognition properties of DNA molecules. [178] DNA nanotechnology uses the unique molecular recognition properties of DNA and other nucleic acids to create self-assembling branched DNA complexes with useful properties. [179] DNA is thus used as a ...
DNA quaternary structure varies over time, as regions of DNA are condensed or exposed for transcription. The term has also been used to describe the hierarchical assembly of artificial nucleic acid building blocks used in DNA nanotechnology. [3] The quaternary structure of DNA refers to the formation of chromatin.
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
The solenoid structure's most obvious function is to help package the DNA so that it is small enough to fit into the nucleus. This is a big task as the nucleus of a mammalian cell has a diameter of approximately 6 μm, whilst the DNA in one human cell would stretch to just over 2 metres long if it were unwound. [6]