BIOQUANT

RNA in Chromatin Structure


Chromatin organization regulates access of transcription, repair and replication machineries to the DNA. Several studides revealed the existence of two functionally distinct genome compartments in the nucleus that are either biologically inactive or active. The structural segregation of these two compartment is not simply the consequence of the gene expression level of some given genes. Nuclear architecture actively participates in the dynamic regulation of biological activities and modulates specific gene-expression programs, which shapes cellular functions. Hence, it is essential to study and to understand the mechanisms that determine genome organization in the nucleus. Several lines of evidence demonstrate that RNA has an important role in the organization of a dynamoc nuclear architecture. Here, we plan to investigate how transcriptionally active nuclear subcompartments are established and maintained by RNA. Recently, we showed that long nuclear-retained RNAs have the ability to maintain higher-order chromatin in an open conformation.


People working on this project

  • Teresa Pankert
  • Caroline Marth
  • Maïwen Caudron-Herger
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    Applied methods & techniques

    Fluorescence Imaging

    Single Cell Manipulations

    Fluctuation Microscopy

    Deep Sequencing