Organization

Core Projects A02 Genome modality in mesoscale

A02-2 Modality of interphase genome architecture

Cohesin, a member of SMC family protein complexes, is a ring-shaped protein complex consisting of four core subunits. While cohesin is canonically essential for sister-chromatid cohesion, it has been recently also found to have a crucial role for higher-order chromatin structure formation in interphase through its DNA loop extrusion activity, like condensin. However, the molecular mechanisms of how cohesin and condensin perform DNA loop extrusion is unclear and how such similar complexes, cohesin and condensin, both of which possess loop extrusion activity, can bring different outcomes, sister chromatid cohesion and mitotic chromosome condensation, respectively is unknown. In this study, we will answer following questions; 1) How cohesin senses physical properties of DNA and extrude DNA loops in single molecule resolution, 2) What is the differences between cohesin and condensin in mechanistic aspects, 3) How cohesin distinguishes functions in sister-chromatid cohesion and DNA loop extrusion.

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