Chromatin modification by DNA tracking.
In general, the transcriptional competence of a chromatin domain is correlated with increased sensitivity to DNase I cleavage. A recent observation that actively transcribing RNA polymerase II piggybacks a histone acetyltranferase activity [Wittschieben, B., Otero, G., de Bizemont, T., Fellows, J., Erdjument-Bromage, H., Ohba, R., Li, Y., Allis, C. D., Tempst, P. & Svejstrup, J. Q. (1999) Mol. Cell 4, 123-128] implies that the state of histone acetylation, and hence the ability of chromatin to fold, can be altered by a processive mechanism. In this article, it is proposed that tracking-mediated chromatin modification could create and/or maintain an open configuration in a complete chromatin domain including both intra- and extragenic regions. This mechanism suggests a putative functional role for the extragenic transcription observed at the beta-globin and other loci in vertebrate cells.
Travers
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MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2QH, United Kingdom. aat@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D001609:Beta-Globulins / Q000378:metabolism; D002843:Chromatin; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D012319:RNA Polymerase II / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D001609:Beta-Globulins; D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones; D004247:DNA; D012319:RNA Polymerase II