Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2013
Capstone Advisor
Dr. Eleanor Maine
Honors Reader
Dr. John Belote
Capstone Major
Biology
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Sciences and Engineering
Subject Categories
Biology
Abstract
Chromatin is the combination of DNA and the proteins binding to DNA in the cell nucleus. The primary proteins associated with chromatin are histones, which compact the DNA. The DNA strand wraps around the histone octamer core complex forming a structure called the nucleosome. Posttranslational modifications of histones alter chromatin structure. Generally speaking, acetylated histones are associated with active gene expression whereas deacetylated histones are associated with repressed gene expression. Histone deacetylases, which function as a multi protein complex, remove acetyl groups resulting in altered DNA-histone binding affinities. One major histone deacetylase (HDAC) complex is the SIN-3 HDAC complex. SIN-3 acts as a “scaffold,” and is specifically thought to interact with certain DNA binding proteins and histone deacetylases to assemble this HDAC complex.
In C. elegans, when germ cells enter meiotic prophase I, the chromosomes coil becoming shorter and thicker, and homologous chromosomes pair and synapse. A chromosome that fails to pair with a partner and synapse (for example, the male X chromosome) accumulates a high level of a specific histone modification, histone H3 lysine 9 dimethylation (H3K9me2). This modification is associated with facultative heterochromatin assembly, which may result in transcriptional silencing. It was observed that loss of sin-3 function disrupts the H3K9me2 accumulation on unpaired X chromosomes in C. elegans hermaphrodites. Continuing the studies of a former student, Guang Yu Lee, a genetic approach has been taken to investigate which components of the SIN-3 complex contribute to the accumulation of H3K9me2 on nonsynapsed meiotic chromosomes.
Recommended Citation
Kontos, Maria, "Investigation of SIN-3 Histone Deacetylase Complex in Caenorhabditis elegans" (2013). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 66.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/66
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