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Ectopic expression of pericentric HSATII RNA results in nuclear RNA accumulation, MeCP2 recruitment, and cell division d...

Published in Chromosoma

Within the pericentric regions of human chromosomes reside large arrays of tandemly repeated satellite sequences. Expression of the human pericentric satellite HSATII is prevented by extensive heterochromatin silencing in normal cells, yet in many cancer cells, HSATII RNA is aberrantly expressed and accumulates in large nuclear foci in cis . Expres...

Imaging assay to probe the role of telomere length shortening on telomere-gene interactions in single cells.

Published in Chromosoma

Telomeres are repetitive non-coding nucleotide sequences (TTAGGGn) capping the ends of chromosomes. Progressive telomere shortening with increasing age has been associated with shifts in gene expression through models such as the telomere position effect (TPE), which suggests reduced interference of the telomere with transcriptional activity of inc...

Chromosome Y pericentric heterochromatin is a primary target of HSF1 in male cells

Published in Chromosoma

The heat shock factor 1 (HSF1)-dependent transcriptional activation of human pericentric heterochromatin in heat-shocked cells is the most striking example of transcriptional activation of heterochromatin. Until now, pericentric heterochromatin of chromosome 9 has been identified as the primary target of HSF1, in both normal and tumor heat-shocked ...

A deformation energy model reveals sequence-dependent property of nucleosome positioning

Published in Chromosoma

We present a deformation energy model for predicting nucleosome positioning, in which a position-dependent structural parameter set derived from crystal structures of nucleosomes was used to calculate the DNA deformation energy. The model is successful in predicting nucleosome occupancy genome-wide in budding yeast, nucleosome free energy, and rota...

Limitation of current probe design for oligo-cross-FISH, exemplified by chromosome evolution studies in duckweeds

Published in Chromosoma

Duckweeds represent a small, free-floating aquatic family ( Lemnaceae ) of the monocot order Alismatales with the fastest growth rate among flowering plants. They comprise five genera ( Spirodela, Landoltia, Lemna, Wolffiella, and Wolffia ) varying in genome size and chromosome number. Spirodela polyrhiza had the first sequenced duckweed genome. Cy...

Julio S. Rufas: A true chromosome lover.

Published in Chromosoma

Various modes of HP1a interactions with the euchromatic chromosome arms in Drosophila ovarian somatic cells.

Published in Chromosoma

Heterochromatin protein 1a (HP1a) is a well-known component of pericentromeric and telomeric heterochromatin in Drosophila. However, its role and the mechanisms of its binding in the chromosome arms (ChAs) remain largely unclear. Here, we identified HP1a-interacting domains in the somatic cells of Drosophila ovaries using a DamID-seq approach and c...

Pericentromere clustering in Tradescantia section Rhoeo involves self-associations of AT- and GC-rich heterochromatin fr...

Published in Chromosoma

A spectacular but poorly recognized nuclear repatterning is the association of heterochromatic domains during interphase. Using base-specific fluorescence and extended-depth-of-focus imaging, we show that the association of heterochromatic pericentromeres composed of AT- and GC-rich chromatin occurs on a large scale in cycling meiotic and somatic c...

Role of HP1β during spermatogenesis and DNA replication.

Published in Chromosoma

Heterochromatin protein 1β (HP1β), encoded by the Cbx1 gene, has been functionally linked to chromatin condensation, transcriptional regulation, and DNA damage repair. Here we report that testis-specific Cbx1 conditional knockout (Cbx1 cKO) impairs male germ cell development in mice. Depletion of HP1β negatively affected sperm maturation and increa...

Mutations in the insulator protein Suppressor of Hairy wing induce genome instability.

Published in Chromosoma

Insulator proteins orchestrate the three-dimensional organization of the genome. Insulators function by facilitating communications between regulatory sequences and gene promoters, allowing accurate gene transcription regulation during embryo development and cell differentiation. However, the role of insulator proteins beyond genome organization an...