title: H-NS Regulates Gene Expression and Compacts the Nucleoid: Insights from Single-Molecule Experiments.
abstract: A set of abundant nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) play key functions in organizing the bacterial chromosome and regulating gene transcription globally. Histone-like nucleoid structuring protein (H-NS) is representative of a family of NAPs that are widespread across bacterial species. They have drawn extensive attention due to their crucial function in gene silencing in bacterial pathogens. Recent rapid progress in single-molecule manipulation and imaging technologies has made it possible to directly probe DNA binding by H-NS, its impact on DNA conformation and topology, and its competition with other DNA-binding proteins at the single-DNA-molecule level. Here, we review recent findings from such studies, and provide our views on how these findings yield new insights into the understanding of the roles of H-NS family members in DNA organization and gene silencing.
authors.affiliation: Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Ricksen S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Winardhi
authors.affiliation: Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, Singapore. Electronic address: phyyj@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Electronic address: kenneyl@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Linda J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Kenney
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C031908:H-NS protein, bacteria