Chromatin assembly

Abstract

Chromatin is a highly dynamic structure that plays an essential role in regulating all nuclear processes that utilize the DNA template including DNA repair, replication, transcription and recombination. Thus, the mechanisms by which chromatin structures are assembled and modified are questions of broad interest. This minireview will focus on two groups of proteins: (a) histone chaperones and (b) ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling machines, that co-operate to assemble DNA and histone proteins into chromatin. The current understanding of how histone chaperones and ATP-dependent remodeling machines coordinately assemble chromatin in vitro will be discussed, together with the growing body of genetic evidence that supports the role of histone chaperones in the cell.