Large-scale on-off switching of genetic activity mediated by the folding-unfolding transition in a giant DNA molecule: an hypothesis.
We present a model to describe the on-off switching of transcriptional activity in a genetic assembly by considering the intrinsic characteristics of a giant genomic DNA molecule which can undergo a discrete structural transition between coiled and compact states. We propose a model in which the transition in the higher-order structure of DNA plays an essential role in regulating stable on-off switching and/or the oscillation of a large number of genes under the fluctuations in a living cell, where such a structural transition is caused by environmental factors. This model explains the rapid and broad transcriptional response in a genetic assembly as well as its robustness against fluctuations.
Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, and Spatio-temporal Order Project, ICORP, JST, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan. takenaka.yoshiko@scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Yoshiko
Y
Takenaka
Hiroki
H
Nagahara
Hiroyuki
H
Kitahata
Kenichi
K
Yoshikawa
D003198:Computer Simulation; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D023281:Genomics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D016011:Normal Distribution; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009691:Nucleic Acid Denaturation; D009991:Oscillometry; D011336:Probability; D013096:Spermine / Q000737:chemistry; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D013096:Spermine; D004247:DNA