Integrating one-dimensional and three-dimensional maps of genomes
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular PharmacologyProgram in Gene Function and Expression
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2010-06-15Keywords
AnimalsChromatin
Chromosome Mapping
Chromosomes
Gene Expression Regulation
*Genome
Humans
Genetics and Genomics
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Genomes exist in vivo as complex physical structures, and their functional output (i.e. the gene expression profile of a cell) is related to their spatial organization inside the nucleus as well as to local chromatin status. Chromatin modifications and chromosome conformation are distinct in different tissues and cell types, which corresponds closely with the diversity in gene-expression patterns found in different tissues of the body. The biological processes and mechanisms driving these general correlations are currently the topic of intense study. An emerging theme is that genome compartmentalization - both along the linear length of chromosomes, and in three dimensions by the spatial colocalization of chromatin domains and genomic loci from across the genome - is a crucial parameter in regulating genome expression. In this Commentary, we propose that a full understanding of genome regulation requires integrating three different types of data: first, one-dimensional data regarding the state of local chromatin - such as patterns of protein binding along chromosomes; second, three-dimensional data that describe the population-averaged folding of chromatin inside cells and; third, single-cell observations of three-dimensional spatial colocalization of genetic loci and trans factors that reveal information about their dynamics and frequency of colocalization.Source
J Cell Sci. 2010 Jun 15;123(Pt 12):1979-88. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1242/jcs.051631Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/44083PubMed ID
20519580Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedRights
© 2010. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd doi:10.1242/jcs.051631
Publisher PDF posted as allowed by the publisher's author rights policy at http://jcs.biologists.org/site/journal/access_policies.xhtml.
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1242/jcs.051631