The essential histone variant H2A.Z regulates the equilibrium between different chromatin conformational states

Jun Y. Fan, Faye Gordon, Karolin Luger, Jeffrey C. Hansen, David John Tremethick*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    233 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Explaining the determinants involved in regulating the equilibrium between different chromatin structural states is fundamental to understanding differential gene expression. Histone variant H2A.Z is essential to chromatin architecture in higher eukaryotes but its role has not yet been explained. We show here that H2A.Z facilitates the intramolecular folding of nucleosomal arrays while simultaneously inhibiting the formation of highly condensed structures that result from intermolecular association. This makes a case for H2A.Z playing a fundamental role in creating unique chromatin domains poised for transcriptional activation. These results provide new insights into understanding how chromatin fiber dynamics can be altered by core histone variants to potentially regulate genomic function.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)172-176
    Number of pages5
    JournalNature Structural Biology
    Volume9
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2002

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