Proteins unspool DNA so cells can take on unique properties
January 20, 2021 Biologists have long wondered how complex organisms contain a variety of dramatically different types of cells with specialized functions, even though all of those cells are genetically identical. New research reveals how proteins, called “pioneer transcription factors,” help turn on key genes that give cell types their unique properties and functions. These pioneer factors, it turns out, help unspool tightly wound coils of DNA so that genetic blueprints in genes can be read and proteins that play roles in biological processes can be made. “We know pretty well what pion...
Source: cornell.edu