來(lái)自美國(guó)斯坦福大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院遺傳學(xué)系,、斯坦?；蚪M技術(shù)研究中心（Stanford Genome Technology Center）,、加拿大多倫多大學(xué)Terrence Donnelly細(xì)胞與生物分子研究中心的研究人員設(shè)計(jì)出了一種新的方法對(duì)酵母中70000個(gè)核小體（Nucleosomes）成功進(jìn)行了描繪,，獲得了一張全新的酵母基因組圖譜,，這有助于我們了解和預(yù)測(cè)細(xì)胞的核小體狀態(tài),，以及研究細(xì)胞遺傳物質(zhì)活動(dòng)過(guò)程中的詳細(xì)細(xì)節(jié),。這一研究成果公布在《自然—遺傳學(xué)》（Nature Genetics）雜志上。
領(lǐng)導(dǎo)這一研究的是多倫多大學(xué)分子遺傳學(xué)系,、醫(yī)學(xué)研究系的副教授Corey Nislow,。在這篇文章中，Nislow領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的研究小組獲得了一張完整的,、三維的酵母基因組圖譜,。研究人員將這些信息輸入電腦，建立了一個(gè)軟件程序,，幫助預(yù)測(cè)核小體會(huì)出現(xiàn)在細(xì)胞關(guān)鍵步驟中的哪兒——核小體在DNA翻譯成蛋白之前會(huì)纏繞在DNA上,，是一個(gè)細(xì)胞狀態(tài)關(guān)鍵的指示核調(diào)控元件。在獲得這一預(yù)測(cè)程序后,，研究人員進(jìn)一步證明了這一程序在預(yù)測(cè)核小體狀態(tài),，以及細(xì)胞狀態(tài)方面的重要作用。
Nislow表示,，“當(dāng)失去調(diào)控的時(shí)候,，細(xì)胞就會(huì)產(chǎn)生錯(cuò)誤的蛋白，或者進(jìn)行不正確的分裂,，這些在癌癥之類的疾病細(xì)胞中都會(huì)出現(xiàn)”,，“了解核小體出現(xiàn)在哪兒，是分辨細(xì)胞正在進(jìn)行什么程序,，將要進(jìn)行什么活動(dòng)的第一步,，因此這個(gè)最初研究對(duì)于某些疾病的早期診斷意義重大。”
總而言之,，科學(xué)家們可以通過(guò)了解核小體的狀態(tài)判斷哪些基因被激活,，翻譯成蛋白，而且這些信息可以作為疾病診斷的重要的第一步,。
原始出處:
Nature Genetics 39, 1235 - 1244 (2007)
Published online: 16 September 2007 | doi:10.1038/ng2117
A high-resolution atlas of nucleosome occupancy in yeast
William Lee1,2, Desiree Tillo3, Nicolas Bray3, Randall H Morse4, Ronald W Davis1,2, Timothy R Hughes3,5,6 & Corey Nislow3,5,6
Abstract
We present the first complete high-resolution map of nucleosome occupancy across the whole Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome, identifying over 70,000 positioned nucleosomes occupying 81% of the genome. On a genome-wide scale, the persistent nucleosome-depleted region identified previously in a subset of genes demarcates the transcription start site. Both nucleosome occupancy signatures and overall occupancy correlate with transcript abundance and transcription rate. In addition, functionally related genes can be clustered on the basis of the nucleosome occupancy patterns observed at their promoters. A quantitative model of nucleosome occupancy indicates that DNA structural features may account for much of the global nucleosome occupancy.
Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5120, USA.
Stanford Genome Technology Center, 855 California Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA.
Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada.
Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York 12201-2002, USA.
Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research, 160 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada.
Banting and Best Department of Medical Research, 112 College St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 1L6, Canada.
Correspondence to: Corey Nislow3,5,6 e-mail: [email protected]
