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Liquid-like chromatin in the cell: What can we learn from imaging and computational modeling?

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Collepardo Guevara, Rosana  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1781-7351
Woods, Esmae 

Abstract

Chromatin in eukaryotic cells is a negatively charged long polymer consisting of DNA, histones, and various associated proteins. With its highly charged and heterogeneous nature, chromatin structure varies greatly depending on various factors (e.g., chemical modifications and protein enrichment) and the surrounding environment (e.g., cations): From a 10-nm fiber, a folded 30-nm fiber, to chromatin condensates/droplets. Recent advanced imaging has observed that chromatin exhibits a dynamic liquid-like behavior and undergoes structural variations within the cell. Current computational modeling has made it possible to reconstruct the liquid-like chromatin in the cell by dealing with a number of nucleosomes on multi-scale levels, and has become a powerful technique to inspect the molecular mechanisms giving rise to the observed behavior, which imaging methods cannot do on their own. Based on new findings from both imaging and modeling studies, we discuss the dynamic aspect of chromatin in living cells and its functional relevance.

Description

Keywords

30-nm fiber, Chromatin, Liquid-liquid phase separation, Multi-scale computational modeling, Nucleosome, Super-resolution imaging, Chromatin, Computer Simulation, DNA, Histones, Nucleosomes

Journal Title

Current Opinion in Structural Biology

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0959-440X
1879-033X

Volume Title

Publisher

Elsevier
Sponsorship
European Research Council (803326)
EPSRC studentship from grant EP/R513180/1