{"id":16094,"date":"2019-06-20T18:00:37","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T16:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/?p=16094"},"modified":"2024-03-22T11:07:45","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T10:07:45","slug":"dna-compaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/dna-compaction\/","title":{"rendered":"Intact chromosomes during cell division"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Every time a cell divides, its DNA \u2013 which is organised into chromosomes \u2013 is duplicated and distributed into the two daughter cells. This process ensures the reliable transmission of genetic information to offspring. Responsible for compacting DNA into chromosomes are so-called molecular machines such as condensin complexes. Condensin creates large loops in strands of DNA and thereby structures chromosomes in such a way that they don\u2019t break or get tangled up during cell division. This process is essential to life, yet how the condensin machinery generates these DNA loops has been a mystery until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Haering group, in collaboration with the Hennig group, has now reconstructed the events that take place at the condensin core during DNA compaction at near-atomic resolution. The binding of ATP \u2013 the molecule that provides energy to cells \u2013 results in a stepwise engagement and disengagement cycle of different proteins of the condensin complex, consequently leading to the opening of its ring structure. These large-scale transitions show the mechanistic path for extruding DNA helices into large loop structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"vf-figure wp-block-image alignnone size-medium wp-image-16097\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/electrostatic-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16097\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/electrostatic-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/electrostatic-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/electrostatic.png 661w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption class=\"vf-figure__caption\">Electrostatic surface potential (red to blue scale) and surface conservation models (yellow to purple) of one of the proteins that maintain a chromosome\u2019s structure at ATP binding. IMAGE: Christian H\u00e4ring \/ EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Errors in this process result in the accumulation of cells with the wrong number of chromosomes or broken chromosomes. Both are hallmarks of most cancer cells and are also the leading cause of clinically recognised miscarriages in humans. Understanding the functions of the molecular machines that fold chromosomes may be the first step towards controlling their activities and preventing the onset of these conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The mystery of how condensin maintains the integrity of the genome during cell division.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":16096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17591],"tags":[535,577,576,537,550,422,43],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-16094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-science-technology","tag-chromosome","tag-chromosome-dynamics","tag-chromosome-structure","tag-dna","tag-dna-storage","tag-haering","tag-heidelberg"],"acf":{"article_intro":"<p>Solving the mystery of how condensin maintains the integrity of the genome during cell division<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"H\u00e4ring group","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.de\/research\/units\/cbb\/haering\/"},{"link_description":"Henning group","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.de\/research\/units\/scb\/hennig\/index.html"},{"link_description":"Loops, loops and loops: how DNA gets organised","link_url":"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/science\/loops-loops-loops-dna-gets-organised\/"},{"link_description":"Looping the loops: How chromosomes form","link_url":"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/science\/looping-loops-chromosomes-form\/"},{"link_description":"Cohesin: a glue for DNA","link_url":"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/science\/cohesin-glue-for-dna\/"}],"article_sources":[{"source_description":"<p>Haering CH <em>et al.<\/em> Structural basis of an asymmetric condensin ATPase cycle. <em>Molecular Cell. <\/em>Published online 20 June 2019. DOI: <a href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.molcel.2019.03.037\">10.1016\/j.molcel.2019.03.037<\/a><\/p>\n","source_link_url":"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.molcel.2019.03.037"}],"vf_locked":false,"featured":false,"color":"#007B53"},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Intact chromosomes during cell division | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Haering group at EMBL has now reconstructed the events during DNA compaction at near-atomic resolution.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/dna-compaction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Intact chromosomes during cell division | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Haering group at EMBL has now reconstructed the events during DNA compaction at near-atomic resolution.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/dna-compaction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-20T16:00:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-22T10:07:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/190611_rh_haering.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Patrick Mueller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Patrick Mueller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/dna-compaction\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/dna-compaction\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Patrick Mueller\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/20e24fdaf3fdbf34c02236ad1afe73f2\"},\"headline\":\"Intact chromosomes during cell division\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-20T16:00:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-22T10:07:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/dna-compaction\/\"},\"wordCount\":274,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/dna-compaction\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/190611_rh_haering.png\",\"keywords\":[\"chromosome\",\"chromosome dynamics\",\"chromosome structure\",\"dna\",\"dna storage\",\"haering\",\"heidelberg\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\",\"Science &amp; 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