Ana Z Canals-Hamann, Ricardo Pires das Neves, Joyce E Reittie, Carlos Iñiguez, Shamit Soneji, Tariq Enver, Veronica J Buckle, Francisco J Iborra
Transcription factories are nuclear domains where gene transcription takes place although the molecular basis for their formation and maintenance are unknown. In this study, we explored how the properties of chromatin as a polymer may contribute to the structure of transcription factories. We found that transcriptional active chromatin contains modifications like histone H4 acetylated at Lysine 16 (H4K16ac). Single fibre analysis showed that this modification spans the entire body of the gene. Furthermore, H4K16ac genes cluster in regions up to 500 Kb alternating active and inactive chromatin...
February 9, 2013: BMC Biophysics