Mechanism of cohesin loading onto chromosomes: a conformational dynamics study.

ABSTRACT: The structure-function relationship of cohesin, an essential chromosome maintenance protein, is investigated by analyzing its collective dynamics and conformational flexibility, enhancing our understanding of the sister chromatid cohesion process. A three-dimensional model of cohesin has been constructed by homology modeling using both crystallographic and electron microscopy image data. The harmonic dynamics of the cohesin structure are calculated with a coarse-grained elastic network model. The model shows that the bending motion of the cohesin ring is able to adopt a head-to-tail conformation, in agreement with experimental data. Low-frequency conformational changes are observed to deform the highly conserved glycine residues at the interface of the cohesin heterodimer. Normal mode anal

SUBMITTER: Kurkcuoglu O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2920725 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature