Scientists’ understanding of how long strings of DNA are packaged into tiny spaces just got a little more complicated. New research on single molecules of DNA show that supercoils—segments of extra-twisted loops of DNA—can moving by “jumping” along a DNA strand. The results, published today (September 13) in Science, give researchers new insights into DNA organization and point to a surprisingly speedy mechanism of gene regulation inside cells.
“This is the first study that addresses the dynamics of DNA supercoils,” said Ralf Seidel, who studies movement of molecular motor proteins along DNA at the University of Technology Dresden, but was not involved in the research. This supercoil hopping motion “allows DNA strands to transmit supercoiling, bringing sites together in very fast manner.”
DNA, being a double helix, is naturally twisted. In vivo, it’s packaged with proteins called histones that help condense the millions or billions of nucleotides into the small ...
