Chromatin state dynamics during blood formation

• DOI: 10.1126/science.1256271
• Publication Date: 2014-08-08T07:07:20Z
• Authors: David Lara-Astiaso; Assaf Weiner; Erika Lorenzo-Vivas; Irina Zaretsky; Diego Adhemar Jaitin; Eyal David; Hadas Keren-Shaul; Alexander Mildner; Deborah Winter; Steffen Jung; Nir Friedman; Ido Amit
• Keywords: 0303 health sciences; 03 medical and health sciences

Opening and closing blood enhancers

As cells develop and differentiate into different types, the shape and accessibility of their DNA can change. Lara-Astiaso et al. studied this phenomenon in blood. They developed a technique that examines a relatively small number of cells to identify the changes that affect DNA during blood development. They found that the DNA of noncoding regions, called enhancers, is set in an open position when cells are undifferentiated and able to take on a variety of roles and gradually closes as cells mature into their final forms.

Science , this issue p. 943