epigentek chromatin

Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a rapid and sensitive method for integrative epigenomic analysis called assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing (ATAC-seq).This assay is based on direct in vitro transposition of sequencing adaptors into native chromatin, which captures open chromatin sites using a simple two-step protocol with 500–50,000 cells and reveals the interplay between genomic locations of open chromatin, DNA-binding proteins, individual nucleosomes and chromatin compaction at nucleotide resolution. By using ATAC-seq, the scientists discovered classes of DNA-binding [more…]

To form chromatin, DNA is tightly wrapped around nuclear proteins called histones. The repeating DNA-histone complex, which consists of 146 base pairs of double-stranded DNA wrapped around eight core histone proteins (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4), is called a nucleosome. Histone proteins are involved in structural organization of chromatin in eukaryotic cells. They can undergo various posttranslational modifications (PTMs) such as methylation/demethylation and acetylation/deacetylation, which can alter their interaction with DNA and nuclear proteins resulting in remodeling of chromatin structure [more…]