
Chromatin fiber structural motifs as regulatory hubs of genome function?
Author(s) -
Manuela Moraru,
Thomas Schalch
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
essays in biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.351
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1744-1358
pISSN - 0071-1365
DOI - 10.1042/ebc20180065
Subject(s) - nucleosome , chromatin , genome , folding (dsp implementation) , biology , computational biology , microbiology and biotechnology , function (biology) , evolutionary biology , dna , genetics , gene , electrical engineering , engineering
Nucleosomes cover eukaryotic genomes like beads on a string and play a central role in regulating genome function. Isolated strings of nucleosomes have the potential to compact and form higher order chromatin structures, such as the well-characterized 30-nm fiber. However, despite tremendous advances in observing chromatin fibers in situ it has not been possible to confirm that regularly ordered fibers represent a prevalent structural level in the folding of chromosomes. Instead, it appears that folding at a larger scale than the nucleosome involves a variety of random structures with fractal characteristics. Nevertheless, recent progress provides evidence for the existence of structural motifs in chromatin fibers, potentially localized to strategic sites in the genome. Here we review the current understanding of chromatin fiber folding and the emerging roles that oligonucleosomal motifs play in the regulation of genome function.