Unveiling the Machinery behind Chromosome Folding by Polymer Physics Modeling.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the mechanisms underlying the complex 3D architecture of mammalian genomes poses, at a more fundamental level, the problem of how two or multiple genomic sites can establish physical contacts in the nucleus of the cells. Beyond stochastic and fleeting encounters related to the polymeric nature of chromatin, experiments have revealed specific, privileged patterns of interactions that suggest the existence of basic organizing principles of folding. In this review, we focus on two major and recently proposed physical processes of chromatin organization: loop-extrusion and polymer phase-separation, both supported by increasing experimental evidence. We discuss their implementation into polymer physics models, which we test against available single-cell super-resolution imaging da

SUBMITTER: Conte M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9967178 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature