SUPERCOILING PUSHES MOLECULAR HANDCUFFS ALONG CHROMATIN FIBRES

“As it squeezes down the chromatin fibre, the cohesin protein complex extrudes a growing loop of DNA – a bit like the quick-lacing system of trail-running shoes. But what is powering the movement of the protein? A team of SIB scientists has found that the driving force could be the supercoiling of upstream DNA. Their research, published in Nucleic Acids Research, is thereby adding a key piece to the puzzle of gene expression regulation.” Read the complete article