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DNA condensation refers to the process of compacting DNA molecules in vitro or in vivo. [1] Mechanistic details of DNA packing are essential for its functioning in the process of gene regulation in living systems. Condensed DNA often has surprising properties, which one would not predict from classical concepts of dilute solutions.
General model for duplication of heterochromatin during cell division Microscopy of heterochromatic versus euchromatic nuclei ().. Heterochromatin has been associated with several functions, from gene regulation to the protection of chromosome integrity; [13] some of these roles can be attributed to the dense packing of DNA, which makes it less accessible to protein factors that usually bind ...
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.
The organization of DNA presents a remarkable biological challenge: human DNA can reach 2 meters [1] and is packed into the nucleus with the diameter of 5-20 µm. [2] At the same time, the critical cell processes involve complex processes on highly compacted DNA, such as transcription, replication, recombination, DNA repair, and cell division.
Each nucleosome is composed of a little less than two turns of DNA wrapped around a set of eight proteins called histones, which are known as a histone octamer. Each histone octamer is composed of two copies each of the histone proteins H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. DNA must be compacted into nucleosomes to fit within the cell nucleus. [2]
Although all of remodelers share common ATPase domain, their functions are specific based on several biological processes (DNA repair, apoptosis, etc.). This is due to the fact that each remodeler complex has unique protein domains ( Helicase , bromodomain , etc.) in their catalytic ATPase region and also has different recruited subunits.
Chromomeres are regions of chromatin that have been compacted through localized contraction. In areas of chromatin with the absence of transcription, condensing of DNA and protein complexes will result in the formation of chromomeres. [2] It is visible on a chromosome during the prophase of meiosis and mitosis.
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]