Related papers: Modeling the dynamics of bivalent histone modifica…
Eukaryotes tune the transcriptional activity of their genome by altering the nucleosome core particle through multiple chemical processes. In particular, replacement of the canonical H2A histone with the variants macroH2A and H2A.Z has been…
We present a model improving the two-angle model for interphase chromatin (E2A model). This model takes into account the cylindrical shape of the histone octamers, the H1 histones in front of the nucleosomes and the vertical distance $d$…
Characterization of pluripotent states, in which cells can both self-renew and differentiate, and the irreversible loss of pluripotency are important research areas in developmental biology. In particular, an understanding of these…
Essential life processes take place across multiple space and time scales in living organisms but understanding their mechanistic interactions remains an ongoing challenge. Advanced multiscale modeling techniques are providing new…
Embryonic stem cells (ESC) have the potential to self-renew indefinitely and to differentiate into any of the three germ layers. The molecular mechanisms for self-renewal, maintenance of pluripotency and lineage specification are poorly…
Due to recent breakthroughs in state-of-the-art DNA sequencing technology, genomics data sets have become ubiquitous. The emergence of large-scale data sets provides great opportunities for better understanding of genomics, especially gene…
Cells can often choose among several stably heritable phenotypes. Examples are the expression of genes in eukaryotic cells where long chromosomal regions can adopt persistent and heritable silenced or active states, that may be associated…
The genome contains genetic information essential for cell's life. The genome's spatial organization inside the cell nucleus is critical for its proper function including gene regulation. The two major genomic compartments -- euchromatin…
The spreading and regulation of epigenetic marks on chromosomes is crucial to establish and maintain cellular identity. Nonetheless, the dynamical mechanism leading to the establishment and maintenance of a given, cell-line specific,…
One of the most important problems in development is how epigenetic domains can be first established, and then maintained, within cells. To address this question, we propose a framework which couples 3D chromatin folding dynamics, to a…
Despite their dynamic nature, certain chromatin marks must be maintained over the long term. This is particulary true for histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9) trimethylation, that is involved in the maintenance of healthy differentiated cellular…
In lymphoma, mutations in genes of histone modifying proteins are frequently observed. Notably, somatic mutations in the activatory histone modification writing protein MLL2 and the repressive modification writer EZH2 are the most frequent.…
With the wealth of high-throughput sequencing data generated by recent large-scale consortia, predictive gene expression modelling has become an important tool for integrative analysis of transcriptomic and epigenetic data. However,…
Histone variants regulate replication, transcription, DNA damage repair, and chromosome segregation. Though widely accepted as a paradigm, it has not been rigorously demonstrated that histone variants encode unique mechanical properties.…
Chromatin is repeatedly deformed in vivo during transcription, nuclear remodeling, and confined migration - yet how mechanical response varies from locus to locus, and how it relates to epigenetic state, remains unclear. We develop a theory…
In cell differentiation, a cell of a less specialized type becomes one of a more specialized type, even though all cells have the same genome. Transcription factors and epigenetic marks like histone modifications can play a significant role…
A large number of studies have shown the existence of metabolic covalent modifications in different molecular structures, able to store biochemical information that is not encoded by the DNA. Some of these covalent mark patterns can be…
The understanding of mechanisms that control epigenetic changes is an important research area in modern functional biology. Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation are in general very stable over many cell divisions. DNA…
The different cell types in a living organism acquire their identity through the process of cell differentiation in which the multipotent progenitor cells differentiate into distinct cell types. Experimental evidence and analysis of…
Beyond the genetic code, there is another layer of information encoded as chemical modifications on histone proteins positioned along the DNA. Maintaining these modifications is crucial for survival and identity of cells. How the…