Facilitated diffusion of proteins on chromatin

Phys Rev Lett. 2011 Jan 21;106(3):038102. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.038102. Epub 2011 Jan 20.

Abstract

We present a theoretical model of facilitated diffusion of proteins in the cell nucleus. This model, which takes into account the successive binding and unbinding events of proteins to DNA, relies on a fractal description of the chromatin which has been recently evidenced experimentally. Facilitated diffusion is shown quantitatively to be favorable for a fast localization of a target locus by a transcription factor and even to enable the minimization of the search time by tuning the affinity of the transcription factor with DNA. This study shows the robustness of the facilitated diffusion mechanism, invoked so far only for linear conformations of DNA.

MeSH terms

  • Cell Nucleus / metabolism
  • Chromatin / chemistry
  • Chromatin / metabolism*
  • Diffusion
  • Models, Biological*
  • Models, Molecular
  • Nuclear Proteins / chemistry
  • Nuclear Proteins / metabolism*
  • Protein Conformation

Substances

  • Chromatin
  • Nuclear Proteins