Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
47
pubmed:dateCreated
1994-12-28
pubmed:abstractText
Electron microscopy and circular dichroism studies of cholesteric aggregates derived from topologically-constrained DNA molecules indicate that the overall morphology and structural properties of these aggregates are fundamentally different from those characterizing condensed structures of nonconstrained DNA species. Specifically, the cholesteric pitch and twist of all hitherto characterized lyotropic mesophases of biopolymers--including those obtained from linear DNA--depend predominantly upon environmental parameters such as the dielectric constant of the solvent. In contrast, the properties of aggregates derived from closed circular supercoiled DNA are found to be solely and directly dictated by the superhelical density and handedness. On the basis of these results, as well as on the demonstrated ubiquity of liquid-crystalline DNA organizations in vivo, we suggest that supercoiling-regulated liquid crystallinity represents an effective packaging mode of nucleosome-free, topologically-constrained DNA molecules in living systems.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
0006-2960
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
29
pubmed:volume
33
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
14177-84
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1994
pubmed:articleTitle
Supercoiling-regulated liquid-crystalline packaging of topologically-constrained, nucleosome-free DNA molecules.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Organic Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't