Work

From “Simple” DNA-Protein Interactions to the Macromolecular Machines of Gene Expression

Year: 2007

Type: review

Abstract: The physicochemical concepts that underlie our present ideas on the structure and assembly of the "macromolecular machines of gene expression" are developed, starting with the structure and folding of the individual protein and DNA components, the thermodynamics and kinetics of their conformational rearrangements during complex assembly, and the molecular basis of the sequence specificity and recognition interactions of the final assemblies that include the DNA genome. The role of diffusion in reduced dimensions in the kinetics of the assembly of macromolecular machines from their components is also considered, and diffusion-driven reactions are compared with those fueled by ATP binding and hydrolysis, as well as by the specific covalent chemical modifications involved in rearranging chromatin and modifying signal transduction networks in higher organisms.

Source: Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure

DOI: 10.1146/annurev.biophys.34.040204.144521

Author: Peter H. von Hippel

Institution: University of Oregon

Language: English

Topic: Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Awards: G3631141119, MOLECULAR INTERACTION IN T4 DNA REPLICATION COMPLEX, Structure and Relations of Protein and Nucleic Acids