Molecular biology has something in common with kite-flying competitions. At the latter, all eyes are on the colorful, elaborate, wildly kinetic constructions darting through the sky. Nobody looks at ...

A new study finds that proteins known as linker histones control the complex coiling process that determines whether DNA will wind into long and thin chromosomes, made up of many small loops, or short ...

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and collaborating institutions are challenging the traditional understanding of how cancer drugs called histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors function.

Histones are a family of basic proteins that associate with DNA in the nucleus and help condense it into chromatin. Nuclear DNA does not appear in free linear strands; it is highly condensed and ...

Chemical changes to histones, the proteins that help to pack and organize DNA inside cells, play a key role in determining what genes will be consistently activated over the course of an animal or ...

In our cells, 6 feet (1.8 m) of DNA gets crammed into chromosomes that fit inside a 6-µm-wide nucleus. The proteins that help pack up that genetic material are histones, which act as spools around ...

The genetic material--DNA-- of plants and animals (within the latter humans) is stored inside the cell, and DNA packing is guaranteed by proteins called histones. Furthermore, histones play a key role ...

UCLA scientists have identified a new function for histones, the spool-shaped proteins that regulate gene expression and serve as anchors for strands of DNA to wrap around. The researchers discovered ...

Lung fibrosis is a debilitating disease affecting nearly 250,000 people in the U.S. alone with 50,000 new cases reported each year. There is currently no cure and limited available treatment options, ...

The development of new strategies to deplete maternal histone proteins in vivo and in vitro has led to the discovery of unexpected roles of histones in forming a functional nuclear envelope. Proteins ...