Investigating Chromatin Dynamics in Heterochromatin Environments by Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy

Abstract

On a molecular level, chromatin consists of 147 bp of DNA wrapped around histone proteins to form structures known as nucleosomes. The nucleosomes are active hubs for regulatory processes such as transcription, replication and repair. On a global level, chromatin is divided into heterochromatin domains where silenced genes are sequestered, and euchromatin domains where active genes are located. Heterochromatin domains are enriched in repetitive DNA sequences, histone H3 lysine 9 methylation and heterochromatin protein 1α (HP1α).