Skip Navigation



Journal of Biochemistry Advance Access published online on November 2, 2007
Journal of Biochemistry, doi:10.1093/jb/mvm214
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
143/2/145    most recent
mvm214v2
mvm214v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Maeshima, K.
Right arrow Articles by Eltsov, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Maeshima, K.
Right arrow Articles by Eltsov, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 2007 The Japanese Biochemical Society

JB Minireview

Packaging the genome: the structure of mitotic chromosomes

Kazuhiro Maeshima1,* and Mikhail Eltsov2

1Cellular Dynamics Laboratory, RIKEN, Wako, Saitama, Japan
2Laboratoire d’Analyse Ultrastructurale, Biophore, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

*Author for correspondence: Dr. Kazuhiro Maeshima, Cellular Dynamics Laboratory, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan, Tel: 81-48-467-9554, 9749, Fax: 81-48-462-4716, E-mail: maeshima{at}riken.jp

Received August 27, 2007; Accepted September 7, 2007


  Abstract

Mitotic chromosomes are essential structures for the faithful transmission of duplicated genomic DNA into two daughter cells during cell division. Although more than 100 years have passed since chromosomes were first observed, it remains unclear how a long string of genomic DNA is packaged into compact mitotic chromosomes. Whereas the classical view is that human chromosomes consist of radial 30-nm chromatin loops that are somehow tethered centrally by scaffold proteins, called condensins, cryo-electron microscopy observation of frozen hydrated native chromosomes reveals a homogeneous, grainy texture, and neither higher-order nor periodic structures including 30-nm chromatin fibers were observed. As a compromise to fill this huge gap, we propose a model in which the radial chromatin loop structures in the classic view are folded irregularly toward the chromosome center with the increase in intracellular cations during mitosis. Consequently, compact native chromosomes are made up primarily of irregular chromatin networks cross-linked by self-assembled condensins forming the chromosome scaffold.

Key Words: genome DNA, chromosome, condensins, scaffold


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.