H2AX chromatin structures and their response to DNA damage revealed by 4Pi microscopy.

ABSTRACT: DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) caused by cellular exposure to genotoxic agents or produced by inherent metabolic processes initiate a rapid and highly coordinated series of molecular events resulting in DNA damage signaling and repair. Phosphorylation of histone H2AX to form gamma-H2AX is one of the earliest of these events and is important for coordination of signaling and repair activities. An intriguing aspect of H2AX phosphorylation is that gamma-H2AX spreads a limited distance up to 1-2 Mbp from the site of a DNA break in mammalian cells. However, neither the distribution of H2AX throughout the genome nor the mechanism that defines the boundary of gamma-H2AX spreading have yet been described. Here, we report the identification of previously undescribed H2AX chromatin structures by su

SUBMITTER: Bewersdorf J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1636994 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature