Women's contribution in understanding how topoisomerases, supercoiling, and transcription control genome organization
One of the biggest paradoxes in biology is that human genome is roughly 2 m long, while the nucleus containing it is almost one million times smaller. To fit into the nucleus, DNA twists, bends and folds into several hierarchical levels of compaction. Still, DNA has to maintain a high degree of acce...
| Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Status: | Published version |
| Publication Date: | 2023 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya) |
| Repository: | Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:recercat.cat:10230/57185 |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10230/57185 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2023.1155825 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Genome organization Supercoiling Topoisomerases Transcription Women |
| Summary: | One of the biggest paradoxes in biology is that human genome is roughly 2 m long, while the nucleus containing it is almost one million times smaller. To fit into the nucleus, DNA twists, bends and folds into several hierarchical levels of compaction. Still, DNA has to maintain a high degree of accessibility to be readily replicated and transcribed by proteins. How compaction and accessibility co-exist functionally in human cells is still a matter of debate. Here, we discuss how the torsional stress of the DNA helix acts as a buffer, regulating both chromatin compaction and accessibility. We will focus on chromatin supercoiling and on the emerging role of topoisomerases as pivotal regulators of genome organization. We will mainly highlight the major breakthrough studies led by women, with the intention of celebrating the work of this group that remains a minority within the scientific community. |
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