Heterochromatin-many flavours, common themes

Abstract

Heterochromatin remains condensed throughout the cell cycle, is generally transcriptionally inert and is built and maintained by groups of factors with each group member sharing a similar function. In mammals, these groups include sequence-specific transcriptional repressors, functional RNA and proteins involved in DNA and histone methylation. Heterochromatin is cemented together via interactions within and between each protein group and is maintained by the cell's replication machinery. It can be constitutive (permanent) or facultative (developmentally regulated) and be any size, from a gene promotor to a whole genome. By studying the formation of facultative heterochromatin, we have gained..