How To Open A Nucleosome

DNA accessibility in the cell nucleus depends on its packaging. The stability of the basic compaction unit, the nucleosome, is regulated through the interactions between DNA and histones. Natural sequence variation along the DNA strongly modulates nucleosome stability. Histone variations, mutations and posttranslational modifications alter intra- and internucleosomal interactions. We are investigating interactions which hold nucleosomes together by measuring distances in reconstituted samples using single molecule Forster energy transfer.