ChromoShake: a chromosome dynamics simulator reveals that chromatin loops stiffen centromeric chromatin.

ABSTRACT: ChromoShake is a three-dimensional simulator designed to find the thermodynamically favored states for given chromosome geometries. The simulator has been applied to a geometric model based on experimentally determined positions and fluctuations of DNA and the distribution of cohesin and condensin in the budding yeast centromere. Simulations of chromatin in differing initial configurations reveal novel principles for understanding the structure and function of a eukaryotic centromere. The entropic position of DNA loops mirrors their experimental position, consistent with their radial displacement from the spindle axis. The barrel-like distribution of cohesin complexes surrounding the central spindle in metaphase is a consequence of the size of the DNA loops within the pericentromere to whi

SUBMITTER: Lawrimore J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4694754 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature