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A fractal model for nuclear organization: current evidence and biological implications

Chromatin is a multiscale structure on which transcription, replication, recombination and repair of the genome occur. To fully understand any of these processes at the molecular level under physiological conditions, a clear picture of the polymorphic and dynamic organization of chromatin in the euk...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bancaud, Aurélien, Lavelle, Christophe, Huet, Sébastien, Ellenberg, Jan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3467038/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22790985
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nar/gks586
Descripción
Sumario:Chromatin is a multiscale structure on which transcription, replication, recombination and repair of the genome occur. To fully understand any of these processes at the molecular level under physiological conditions, a clear picture of the polymorphic and dynamic organization of chromatin in the eukaryotic nucleus is required. Recent studies indicate that a fractal model of chromatin architecture is consistent with both the reaction-diffusion properties of chromatin interacting proteins and with structural data on chromatin interminglement. In this study, we provide a critical overview of the experimental evidence that support a fractal organization of chromatin. On this basis, we discuss the functional implications of a fractal chromatin model for biological processes and propose future experiments to probe chromatin organization further that should allow to strongly support or invalidate the fractal hypothesis.