Rings, bracelet or snaps: fashionable alternatives for Smc complexes

作者：Catherine Huang, Mark Milutinovich, Douglas E. Koshland · 发表于：Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · 年份：2005 · DOI：10.1098/rstb.2004.1609 · 被引用次数：146 · 研究领域：DNA Repair Mechanisms、DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry、Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics

The mechanism of higher order chromosome organization has eluded researchers for over 100 years. A breakthrough occurred with the discovery of multi-subunit protein complexes that contain a core of two molecules from the structural maintenance of chromosome (Smc) family. Smc complexes are important structural components of chromosome organization in diverse aspects of DNA metabolism, including sister chromatid cohesion, condensation, global gene repression, DNA repair and homologous recombination. In these different processes, Smc complexes may facilitate chromosome organization by tethering together two parts of the same or different chromatin strands. The mechanism of tethering by Smc complexes remains to be elucidated, but a number of intriguing topological alternatives are suggested by the unusual structural features of Smc complexes, including their large coiled-coil domains and ATPase activities. Distinguishing between these possibilities will require innovative new approaches.