Bungee Jumping into Elasticity of Fragile Sites

Abstract

Chromatin is a polymer with mechanical properties which can contribute to genome function. Here, we investigate nanomechanical properties of chromatin fibers found at fragile sites in the human cancer genome using interdisciplinary tools. We demonstrate that altering the epigenetic identity of particles which make up the chromatin fiber can have large scale effects on mechanical features of the chromatin, resulting in an increase in chromatin breaks and translocation of the underyling locus.