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Multitude of inverted repeats characterizes a class of anchorage sites of chromatin loops to the nuclear matrix
Author(s) -
Boulikas Teni,
Kong C. F.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of cellular biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1097-4644
pISSN - 0730-2312
DOI - 10.1002/jcb.240530102
Subject(s) - scaffold/matrix attachment region , nuclear matrix , biology , origin recognition complex , chromatin , genetics , dna replication , transcription (linguistics) , eukaryotic dna replication , inverted repeat , dna , dna supercoil , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , chromatin remodeling , genome , linguistics , philosophy
In order to understand the nature of DNA sequences that organize chromatin into domains or loops, we have cloned the nuclear matrix DNA (1.7% of the total DNA) from human myelogeneous leukemia cells in culture. Nuclear matrix is formed by interactions between specific stretches of DNA of about 0.1 to 5.0 kb with protein transcription factors, nuclear enzymes, and structural proteins. Nuclear matrix is believed to be the exclusive nuclear microenvironment in which initiation of DNA replication, transcription, and repair take place. The matrix attachment regions (MARs) of DNA have transcriptional enhancer activity, harbor the origins of replication of the human genome, and define the borders between neighbouring chromatin loops. In this study we report the sequence of the human MAR fragment 19.2 of a size of 542 bp. Hum. MAR 19.2 is composed of TG‐, CA‐, CT‐, and GA‐rich blocks and shows 8 perfect and imperfect inverted repeats. Thus, we have identified a novel class of MARs with sequence characteristics divergent from the AT‐rich class of MARs. The inverted repeats of the 19.2 sequence might be stabilized into their cruciform configuration by torsional strain and by specific transcription/replication protein factors. This MAR might function in the initiation of replication of the flanking chromatim domain and in the regulation of the transcriptional activity of the gene(s) that reside in this domain.