Abstract
A major challenge in biology is to understand how genetic information is interpreted to direct the formation of specialized tissues within a multicellular organism. During differentiation, changes in chromatin structure and nuclear organization establish heritable patterns of gene expression in response to signals. Epigenetic states can be broadly divided into three categories: euchromatin, constitutive heterochromatin and facultative hetereochromatin. Although the static epigenetic profiles of expressed and silent loci are relatively well characterized, less is known about the transition between active and repressed states. Furthermore, it is important to expand on localized models of chromatin structure at specific genetic addresses to examine the entire nucleus. Changes in nuclear organization, replication timing and global chromatin modifications should be integrated when attempting to describe the epigenetic signature of a given cell type. It is also crucial to examine the temporal aspect of these changes. In this context, the capacity for cellular differentiation reflects both the repertoire of available transcription factors and the accessibility of cis-regulatory elements, which is governed by chromatin structure. Understanding this interplay between epigenetics and transcription will help us to understand differentiation pathways and, ultimately, to manipulate or reverse them.
Highlights
The question of how a single cell grows into a new organism has puzzled biologists for more than a century
Deletion of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae histone methyltransferase (HMTase) Dot1p, which is specific for H3 Lys79, leads to a loss of silencing within telomeric regions mediated by Sir proteins
HP1α is significantly enriched at centromeres (Gilbert et al, 2003), and HP1 interactions are generally thought to contribute to the stable formation of condensed chromatin structures
Summary
A major challenge in biology is to understand how genetic information is interpreted to direct the formation of specialized tissues within a multicellular organism. Changes in chromatin structure and nuclear organization establish heritable patterns of gene expression in response to signals. It is crucial to examine the temporal aspect of these changes. In this context, the capacity for cellular differentiation reflects both the repertoire of available transcription factors and the accessibility of cis-regulatory elements, which is governed by chromatin structure. The capacity for cellular differentiation reflects both the repertoire of available transcription factors and the accessibility of cis-regulatory elements, which is governed by chromatin structure Understanding this interplay between epigenetics and transcription will help us to understand differentiation pathways and, to manipulate or reverse them
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