Chromatin Array Technology Pinpoints Gene Activity

Molecular biologists studying the physical processes involved when chromatin-bound DNA becomes available to transcription factors and expresses itself through RNA binding and coding for protein synthesis have developed a technique called chromatin array that allows the simultaneous measurement of the state of DNA availability at the resolution of single genes.

The new technique permits measurement of the degree of compactness of chromatin with a resolution of a single gene. In general, the less compact an area of chromatin is, the more likely the DNA can engage in transfer of information. Older techniques for measuring DNA compactness are very slow, while RNA microarray methods for measuring gene activation lack sensitivity.

Investigators at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, USA) unveiled the new methodology in a paper published in the July 2004 issue of Genome Research.

Senior author Dr. Harold Garner, professor of biochemistry and internal medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said, "Our current study describes the platform technology necessary to try to understand larger questions. One of the advantages of our array is that it sorts through lots of pieces of DNA and gives us information about each segment all at once. The next step will involve using the technique to look at different types of cancer cells to see whether this type of assay could be a diagnostic tool.”



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University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center