The elastic resilience of DNA can induce all‐or‐none structural transitions in the nucleosome core particle

Abstract

DNA on the surface of the histone octamer in the native nucleosome core particle is modeled as a circumferentially wound elastic line on the surface of a cylinder. In a model for the radial transition, the line is allowed to straighten, and thus lose energy, by swinging off the surface, but it is impeded in such an excursion by a radial force field representing the attractive interaction between DNA and histone octamer. In a model for the axial transition, the line may straighten by becoming more parallel to a generator of the cylinder while remaining on the surface. In this mode of straightening, dimer–tetramer or tetramer–tetramer interfaces are disrupted, and the resulting energy gain impedes the transition. Both radial and axial transitions are predicted to occur in all-or-none fashion. We propose that these models are related to the abrupt transitions actually observed in the nucleosome core particle.