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arXiv 1001.4246cond-mat.softcond-mat.stat-mechphysics.chem-phq-bio.BM
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环状聚合物之间的拓扑相互作用:对染色质环的启示

Topological interactions between ring polymers: Implications for chromatin loops

Manfred Bohn, Dieter W. Heermann

摘要:

染色质成环是高等真核生物中一种重要的表观遗传调控机制。除了在转录调控中的作用外,染色质环还被认为在整个染色体的分离中起关键作用。环之间的详细拓扑力和熵力仍然难以捉摸。在这里,我们定量地确定两个环聚合物,即环的质量中心之间的平均力的潜力。我们发现从线性聚合物到环状聚合物的转变导致这两种聚合物之间的熵排斥力强烈增加。最重要的是,拓扑相互作用,如非连锁约束进一步减少了近环聚合物的可接近构象的数量约50%,导致额外的有效排斥。此外,从线性到环状聚合物的过渡显示系统的构象和结构性质的变化。事实上,环状聚合物比线性聚合物具有明显更有序和排列的状态。环聚合物之间的力和伴随的形状和排列的变化表明生物聚合物中这种拓扑结构的重要调节功能。我们推测,染色质中的动态环的形成可能作为一个多功能的控制机制,调节和维持不同的局部状态的紧凑和秩序。

英文摘要:

Chromatin looping is a major epigenetic regulatory mechanism in higher eukaryotes. Besides its role in transcriptional regulation, chromatin loops have been proposed to play a pivotal role in the segregation of entire chromosomes. The detailed topological and entropic forces between loops still remain elusive. Here, we quantitatively determine the potential of mean force between the centers of mass of two ring polymers, i.e. loops. We find that the transition from a linear to a ring polymer induces a strong increase in the entropic repulsion between these two polymers. On top, topological interactions such as the non-catenation constraint further reduce the number of accessible conformations of close-by ring polymers by about 50%, resulting in an additional effective repulsion. Furthermore, the transition from linear to ring polymers displays changes in the conformational and structural properties of the system. In fact, ring polymers adopt a markedly more ordered and aligned state than linear ones. The forces and accompanying changes in shape and alignment between ring polymers suggest an important regulatory function of such a topology in biopolymers. We conjecture that dynamic loop formation in chromatin might act as a versatile control mechanism regulating and maintaining different local states of compaction and order.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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