1932

Abstract

Chromatin is a highly regulated, modular nucleoprotein complex that is central to many processes in eukaryotes. The organization of DNA into nucleosomes and higher-order structures has profound implications for DNA accessibility. Alternative structural states of the nucleosome, and the thermodynamic parameters governing its assembly and disassembly, need to be considered in order to understand how access to nucleosomal DNA is regulated. In this review, we provide a brief historical account of how the overriding perception regarding aspects of nucleosome structure has changed over the past thirty years. We discuss recent technical advances regarding nucleosome structure and its physical characterization and review the evidence for alternative nucleosome conformations and their implications for nucleosome and chromatin dynamics.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-biophys-042910-155329
2011-06-09
2024-03-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-biophys-042910-155329
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-biophys-042910-155329
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error