From crystal and NMR structures, footprints and cryo-electron-micrographs to large and soft structures: nanoscale modeling of the nucleosomal stem

Abstract

By combining (i) crystal and NMR structures of the nucleosome core particle and H1, (ii) the known nano-scale structure and elasticity of DNA, (iii) footprinting information on the location of protected sites on the DNA backbone and (iv) cryo-electron micrographs of reconstituted tri-nucleosomes, we arrive at a description of a polymorphic, hierarchically organized stem with a typical length of 20 +/- 2 base pairs.

Keywords

• chromatin
• nukleosom
• core particle
• DNA