News tagged with histone protein

Genetic packing: Successful stem cell differentiation requires DNA compaction, study finds

(Phys.org) -- New research findings show that embryonic stem cells unable to fully compact the DNA inside them cannot complete their primary task: differentiation into specific cell types that give rise to ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 11, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Control of gene expression: Histone occupancy in your genome

When stretched out, the genome of a single human cell can reach six feet. To package it all into a tiny nucleus, the DNA strand is tightly wrapped around a core of histone proteins in repeating units—each ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Defect in transport system causes DNA chaos in red blood cells

Within all our cells lies two meters of DNA, highly ordered in a structure of less than 10 micro meters in diameter. Special proteins called histones act as small building bricks, organising our DNA in this structure. Preservation ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 12, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A foot in the door to genetic information

In the cell nucleus, DNA wraps around what are called histone proteins, forming regularly spaced spherical bodies called nucleosomes. Thus, large portions of the genetic material are inaccessible to the gene reading machinery. ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Mar 07, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers provide atomic view of a histone chaperone

Mayo Clinic researchers have gained insights into the function of a member of a family of specialized proteins called histone chaperones. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography, they ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Mar 01, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Chromosome centromeres are inherited epigenetically

Centromeres are specialised regions of the genome, which can be identified under the microscope as the primary constriction in X-shaped chromosomes. The cell skeleton, which distributes the chromosomes to ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists discover secret life of chromatin

Chromatin - the intertwined histone proteins and DNA that make up chromosomes – constantly receives messages that pour in from a cell’s intricate signaling networks: Turn that gene on. Stifle that one.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Sep 01, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Biologists' discovery may force revision of biology textbooks

Basic biology textbooks may need a bit of revising now that biologists at UC San Diego have discovered a never-before-noticed component of our basic genetic material.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Aug 18, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Kinetochores prefer the 'silent' DNA sections of the chromosome

The protein complex responsible for the distribution of chromosomes during cell division is assembled in the transition regions between heterochromatin and euchromatin.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jul 05, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Mechanism for stress-induced epigenetic inheritance uncovered in new study

Researchers at RIKEN have uncovered a mechanism by which the effects of stress in the fly species Drosophila are inherited epigenetically over many generations through changes to the structure of chromatin, ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jun 23, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Predicting the fate of personalized cells next step toward new therapies

Discovering the step-by-step details of the path embryonic cells take to develop into their final tissue type is the clinical goal of many stem cell biologists. To that end, Kenneth S. Zaret, PhD, professor ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 19, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Packaging process for genes discovered

Scientists at Penn State University have achieved a major milestone in the attempt to assemble, in a test tube, entire chromosomes from their component parts. The achievement reveals the process a cell uses ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 19, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Plant clock gene also works in human cells

A gene that controls part of the 'tick tock' in a plant's circadian clock has been identified by UC Davis researchers. And not only is the plant gene very similar to one in humans, but the human gene can work in plant cells ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 01, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

On the trail of the epigenetic code

The genetic inherited material DNA was long viewed as the sole bearer of hereditary information. The function of its packaging proteins, the histones, was believed to be exclusively structural. Additional ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 11, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Ticking of cellular clock promotes seismic changes in the chromatin landscape associated with aging

Like cats, human cells have a finite number of lives-once they divide a certain number of times (thankfully, more than nine) they change shape, slow their pace, and eventually stop dividing, a phenomenon called ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 03, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (19) | comments 0 | with audio podcast