It has been long known by scientists that the proteins that package DNA need a chaperone. But what this chaperone looks like, and how it acts, is unknown to scientists. It has been a mystery until now.
A team of researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder has cracked the puzzle of the Facilitates Chromatin Transcription (FACT) protein structure. This protein is partly responsible for making sure everything goes smoothly and no improper interactions take place when DNA temporarily sheds and replaces its guardian proteins, or histones.
The findings of this study might help us to understand genome and gene transcription, as well as cancer. It might also help us in the development of anti-cancer drugs.
"This is just the start for this protein. It's not the end," said Yang Liu, a research associate in the Department of Biochemistry at CU Boulder and one of the study's lead authors.
Check out PHYS.org to know more about the study.
(Image Credit: Liu et al. 2019)