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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]
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.
In nature, DNA can form three structures, A-, B-, and Z-DNA. A- and B-DNA are very similar, forming right-handed helices, whereas Z-DNA is a left-handed helix with a zig-zag phosphate backbone. Z-DNA is thought to play a specific role in chromatin structure and transcription because of the properties of the junction between B- and Z-DNA.
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.
A-DNA, is a form of the DNA duplex observed under dehydrating conditions. It is shorter and wider than B-DNA. RNA adopts this double helical form, and RNA-DNA duplexes are mostly A-form, but B-form RNA-DNA duplexes have been observed. [14] In localized single strand dinucleotide contexts, RNA can also adopt the B-form without pairing to DNA. [15]
The double helix is the dominant tertiary structure for biological DNA, and is also a possible structure for RNA. Three DNA conformations are believed to be found in nature, A-DNA, B-DNA, and Z-DNA. The "B" form described by James D. Watson and Francis Crick is believed to predominate in cells. [2]
However, DNA is tightly packaged in the nucleus with the help of packaging proteins, chiefly histone proteins to form repeating units of nucleosomes which further bundle together to form condensed chromatin structure. Such condensed structure occludes many DNA regulatory regions, not allowing them to interact with transcriptional machinery ...
The A form occurs under non-physiological conditions in partly dehydrated samples of DNA, while in the cell it may be produced in hybrid pairings of DNA and RNA strands, and in enzyme-DNA complexes. [ 54 ] [ 55 ] Segments of DNA where the bases have been chemically modified by methylation may undergo a larger change in conformation and adopt ...