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Science 20 August 1999:
Vol. 285. no. 5431, pp. 1200 - 1203
DOI: 10.1126/science.285.5431.1200
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News Focus

CELL BIOLOGY:
How Chromatin Changes Its Shape

Michael Hagmann

How the many molecular players that convey to the genetic material the signals it needs to determine what to do in the cell has been a mystery because the DNA is literally balled up with histones and other proteins in an amalgam known as chromatin. Recently, however, cell biologists have been discovering that several chemical appendages, including acetyl, phosphate, and methyl groups, cause chromatin fibers to open up when those groups are attached to histone proteins, thus boosting the activity of specific genes. One of those modifications, histone phosphorylation, also appears to be involved in other types of chromatin remodeling, such as the chromosome condensation that takes place prior to cell division. The finding suggests that histone modifications may have an impact far beyond gene activation.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Interplay between the Glucocorticoid Receptor and Nuclear Factor-{kappa}B or Activator Protein-1: Molecular Mechanisms for Gene Repression.
K. De Bosscher, W. Vanden Berghe, and G. Haegeman (2003)
Endocr. Rev. 24, 488-522
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Nuclear Hormone Receptors and Gene Expression.
A. Aranda and A. Pascual (2001)
Physiol Rev 81, 1269-1304
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)