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Published February 14, 2003 | public
Journal Article

Crystal structures of nucleosome core particles in complex with minor groove DNA-binding ligands

Abstract

We determined the crystal structures of three nucleosome core particles in complex with site-specific DNA-binding ligands, the pyrrole-imidazole polyamides. While the structure of the histone octamer and its interaction with the DNA remain unaffected by ligand binding, nucleosomal DNA undergoes significant structural changes at the ligand-binding sites and in adjacent regions to accommodate the ligands. Our findings suggest that twist diffusion occurs over long distances through tightly bound nucleosomal DNA. This may be relevant to the mechanism of ATP-dependent and spontaneous nucleosome translocation, and to the effect of bound factors on nucleosome dynamics.

Additional Information

© 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. Received 9 October 2002; received in revised form 27 November 2002; accepted 27 November 2002. We thank Gerry McDermott at the ALS (BL 5.0.2) for support, Stephanie Ebbesen, Matthew Linnell and all members of the Luger lab for technical support and input, and Andrew Flaus for helpful comments. Funding was provided by the Searle Scholars Award to K.L., and by grants from the NIH to K.L., J.M.G., and P.B.D.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023