Brownian dynamics simulation of the cross-talking effect among modified histones on conformations of nucleosomes  

作　　者：段兆文 李伟 谢平 窦硕星 王鹏业 

机构地区：[1]Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Physics,Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics,Institute of Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences

出　　处：《Chinese Physics B》2010年第4期461-468,共8页中国物理B（英文版）

基　　金：Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants Nos. 10834014 and 10674173);the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2009CB930704)

摘　　要：Using Brownian dynamics simulation, we studied the effect of histone modifications On conformations of an array of nucleosomes in a segment of chromatin. The simulation demonstrated that the segment of chromatin shows the dynamic behaviour that its conformation can switch between a state with nearly all of the histones being wrapped by DNA and a state with nearly all of the histones being unwrapped by DNA, thus involving the ＂cross-talking＂ interactions among the histones. Each state can stay for a sufficiently long time. These conformational states are essential for gene expression or gene silence. The simulation also shows that these conformational states can be inherited by the daughter DNAs during DNA replication, giving a theoretical explanation of the epigenetic phenomenon.Using Brownian dynamics simulation, we studied the effect of histone modifications On conformations of an array of nucleosomes in a segment of chromatin. The simulation demonstrated that the segment of chromatin shows the dynamic behaviour that its conformation can switch between a state with nearly all of the histones being wrapped by DNA and a state with nearly all of the histones being unwrapped by DNA, thus involving the ＂cross-talking＂ interactions among the histones. Each state can stay for a sufficiently long time. These conformational states are essential for gene expression or gene silence. The simulation also shows that these conformational states can be inherited by the daughter DNAs during DNA replication, giving a theoretical explanation of the epigenetic phenomenon.

关 键 词：NUCLEOSOME histone modification DNA Brownian dynamics 

分 类 号：Q51[生物学—生物化学]