The tight wrapping of genomic DNA around nucleosomes in the cell nucleus makes it unavailable for gene expression. A team of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich now describes a mechanism that allows chromosomal ...
Biochemistry
May 23, 2013
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Every gene in the nucleus of an animal or plant cell is packaged into a beads-on-a-string like structure called nucleosomes: the DNA of the gene forms the string and a complex of proteins called histones forms the beads around ...
Biotechnology
Feb 11, 2013
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To fit the two-meter long DNA molecule into a cell nucleus that is only a few thousandths of a millimetre in size, long sections of the DNA must be strongly compacted. Epigenetic marks maintain these sections, known as heterochromatin. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 25, 2012
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The sequencing of the human genome has provided a wealth of genetic information, yet the goal of understanding the function of every gene remains outstanding. New research from the University of Illinois published in Cell ...
Biotechnology
Jun 11, 2012
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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 ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 12, 2012
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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 ...
Biochemistry
Mar 1, 2012
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When a sperm fertilizes an egg, each contributes a set of chromosomes to the resulting embryo, which at these very early stages is called a zygote. Early on, zygotic genes are inert, so embryonic development is largely controlled ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 1, 2011
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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, the material that ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 23, 2011
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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 genetic information ...
Biotechnology
Oct 11, 2010
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A study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified a key player in a molecular process essential for DNA replication within cells.
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 22, 2009
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