Proteins Transform DNA
Posted on: Sunday, 13 June 2004, 06:00 CDT
Proteins Transform DNA into "Molecular Velcro"
(HealthNewsDigest.com)...Proteins critical for compacting DNA in preparation for cell division actually interact with the double helix to fashion it into a kind of -molecular Velcro,- HHMI researchers have discovered.
The proteins, called condensins, are important for a variety
of housekeeping processes in chromosomes, but the mechanics
behind their function have been largely unknown. When the
researchers alternately stretched and compressed a single
molecule of DNA with condensins attached, they found that
the DNA extended in stepwise "clicks," akin to Velcro
unzipping.
The successful manipulation of a single DNA molecule with
condensin proteins attached makes it plausible to think
about using a similar strategy to explore the machinery that
processes chromosomes in the cell.
Research published in the June 3, 2004, issue of Science.
HHMI investigator(s):
Carlos Bustamante, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
For the full story, go to http://www.hhmi.org/news/bustamante3.html
www.HealthNewsDigest.com
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