Cells Part 2 Flashcards
What are the 2 states of chromatin?
Open (euchromatin) and closed (heterochromatin)
What is general chromatin closure associated with?
Differentiation; more differentiation = more closure
What does the histone code do?
Helps to organize chromatin and regulate gene expression
What does each nucleosome consist of?
2 of each: H2A, H2B, H3 and H4; and a flexible amino tail (NH2-terminus) that sticks out past the DNA and 1.8 turns of DNA
What makes up the histone code?
Histone modifications
Define Differentiation
The process by which cells specialize into different cell types
Where are modifications to the histone code made?
At the flexible amino terminus of the histones
What is phosphorylation of an amino acid commonly associated with?
Signalling pathways that activate proteins
What 2 amino acids are methylated?
Arginine and lysine
What amino acid is commonly acetylated?
Lysine
What do non-histone proteins use modified residues for?
Docking sites
What determines the properties of chromatin?
Non-histone proteins
What is the purpose of the modified residues in the histone code?
Determines the interaction of the histone tails with DNA, other proteins, or other histone tails to determine the chromatin structure
True or false, RNA cannot silence chromatin
False, non-coding RNA can silence chromatin by encouraging the modification of the histone tails
What are the 2 types of structures that are able to be methylated? Is it reversible?
DNA on the 5-carbon position of a cytosine residue, and histones can be mono or di methylated on an arginine or lysine residue; this is reversible
What enzyme acetylates histones?
Histone acetyl transferase (HATs)
What enzyme deacetylates histones?
Histone deacetylase (HDACs)
True or false, acetylation always opens chromatin and methylation always closes chromatin.
False, this is just what happens in general
What enzyme is responsible for methylating histones?
Histone methyl transferase
What are HDACs, HMTs, and HATs classified as?
Chromatin remodelers
What does open chromatin allow room for?
Transcriptional machinery
What happens when H3K9 is methylated?
Recruits heterochromatin protein-1 (HP1) and results in further compaction