TY - JOUR
T1 - Chromatin as an expansive canvas for chemical biology
AU - Fierz, Beat
AU - Muir, Tom W.
N1 - Funding Information:
Some of the work discussed in this article was performed in the authors’ group and was supported by the US National Institutes of Health and by the Swiss National Science Foundation, No. PA00P3-129130 (B.F.). We thank members of the Muir laboratory for critical reading of this article and apologize to the researchers whose work could not be cited because of space restraints.
PY - 2012/5
Y1 - 2012/5
N2 - Chromatin is extensively chemically modified and thereby acts as a dynamic signaling platform controlling gene function. Chromatin regulation is integral to cell differentiation, lineage commitment and organism development, whereas chromatin dysregulation can lead to age-related and neurodegenerative disorders as well as cancer. Investigating chromatin biology presents a unique challenge, as the issue spans many disciplines, including cell and systems biology, biochemistry and molecular biophysics. In recent years, the application of chemical biology methods for investigating chromatin processes has gained considerable traction. Indeed, chemical biologists now have at their disposal powerful chemical tools that allow chromatin biology to be scrutinized at the level of the cell all the way down to the single chromatin fiber. Here we present recent examples of how this rapidly expanding palette of chemical tools is being used to paint a detailed picture of chromatin function in organism development and disease.
AB - Chromatin is extensively chemically modified and thereby acts as a dynamic signaling platform controlling gene function. Chromatin regulation is integral to cell differentiation, lineage commitment and organism development, whereas chromatin dysregulation can lead to age-related and neurodegenerative disorders as well as cancer. Investigating chromatin biology presents a unique challenge, as the issue spans many disciplines, including cell and systems biology, biochemistry and molecular biophysics. In recent years, the application of chemical biology methods for investigating chromatin processes has gained considerable traction. Indeed, chemical biologists now have at their disposal powerful chemical tools that allow chromatin biology to be scrutinized at the level of the cell all the way down to the single chromatin fiber. Here we present recent examples of how this rapidly expanding palette of chemical tools is being used to paint a detailed picture of chromatin function in organism development and disease.
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U2 - 10.1038/nchembio.938
DO - 10.1038/nchembio.938
M3 - Review article
C2 - 22510649
AN - SCOPUS:84859836380
SN - 1552-4450
VL - 8
SP - 417
EP - 427
JO - Nature Chemical Biology
JF - Nature Chemical Biology
IS - 5
ER -