The paper
J.S. Rawlings et al., “Chromatin condensation via the condensin II complex is required for peripheral T-cell quiescence,” The EMBO Journal, 30:263-76, 2011. Free F1000 Evaluation
The finding
Naïve T cells remain in a quiescent state, becoming activated only when they encounter their complementary antigen during an immune response. First author Jason Rawlings, then at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, found that T cells are maintained in a quiescent state by a nonhistone protein complex involved in chromatin compaction.
The clue
Rawlings first tracked the location of the transcription factor Stat5, which enables the activation of T-cell proliferation during immune response in naïve and active cells. Surprisingly, while Stat5 relocated to the nucleus in both activated and naïve cells, it only induced proliferation in activated T cells. “This was the clue that something was happening at the DNA level,” says Rawlings.
The dead end The researchers assumed that histone ...
