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...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Martin, Laura, Neguembor, Maria Victoria, Cosma, Maria Pia, 1970-
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/57185
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/57185
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2023.1155825
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Genome organization
Supercoiling
Topoisomerases
Transcription
Women
Descripción
Sumario: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.