Straub Tobias, Becker Peter B
Adolf-Butenandt-Institut and Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich, Ludwig Maximilian Universität, Schillerstrasse 44, D-80336 Munich, Germany.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2008 Apr;18(2):175-80. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2008.01.001. Epub 2008 Mar 4.
The combination of chromatin structure and the organization of chromosomes in eukaryotic nuclei affects many genome functions. Distinct functional states of genes ranging from 'highly active' to 'silenced' correlate with particular nucleosome arrangements, histone variants, histone modifications, and interactions of non-histone regulators. Transcription factors that recognize and bind specific DNA sequences recruit chromatin modulators to specific genes via protein interactions. However, little is known about how chromosomal domains or entire chromosomes are targeted to implement particular chromatin structures and activity states. Here we discuss emerging concepts of how DNA sequence can contribute to chromatin organization at the domain level. Inspiration and motivation for this discourse comes from the unresolved question of how X chromosomes are identified for dosage compensation.
染色质结构与真核细胞核中染色体的组织方式相结合，会影响许多基因组功能。基因从“高度活跃”到“沉默”的不同功能状态与特定的核小体排列、组蛋白变体、组蛋白修饰以及非组蛋白调节因子的相互作用相关。识别并结合特定DNA序列的转录因子通过蛋白质相互作用将染色质调节剂招募至特定基因。然而，对于染色体结构域或整条染色体如何被靶向以实现特定的染色质结构和活性状态，我们知之甚少。在此，我们讨论有关DNA序列如何在结构域水平上促进染色质组织的新兴概念。这一论述的灵感和动机来自于X染色体如何被识别以进行剂量补偿这一尚未解决的问题。
