title: Sequence-specific targeting of chromatin remodelers organizes precisely positioned nucleosomes throughout the genome.
abstract: Eukaryotic genomes are functionally organized into chromatin, a compact packaging of nucleoproteins with the basic repeating unit known as the nucleosome. A major focus for the chromatin field has been understanding what rules govern nucleosome positioning throughout the genome, and here we review recent findings using a novel, sequence-targeted remodeling enzyme. Nucleosomes are often packed into evenly spaced arrays that are reproducibly positioned, but how such organization is established and maintained through dramatic events such as DNA replication is poorly understood. We hypothesize that a major fraction of positioned nucleosomes arises from sequence-specific targeting of chromatin remodelers to generate "founding" nucleosomes, providing reproducible, predictable, and condition-specific nucleation sites against which neighboring nucleosomes are packed into evenly spaced arrays.
authors.affiliation: T.C. Jenkins Department of Biophysics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: McKnight
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D004261:DNA Replication; D006801:Humans; D009707:Nucleosomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D009707:Nucleosomes; D004247:DNA
keywords: Isw2; chromatin remodeling; genome structure; nucleosome positioning; post-translational modification; transcription