TY - JOUR
T1 - Micro- and nanoscale devices for the investigation of epigenetics and chromatin dynamics
AU - Aguilar, Carlos A.
AU - Craighead, Harold G.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank R. Karnik, J. Harper, C. Gifford and A. Meissner for discussions, and N. Taylor for assistance with artwork. H.G.C. acknowledges support from the National Institutes of Health grants R01 HG006850-01, U54 CA143876-03 and R01 DA030329-03. C.A.A. acknowledges support from and sponsorship by the Department of the Air Force under Air Force Contract #FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, recommendations and conclusions are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the US government.
PY - 2013/10
Y1 - 2013/10
N2 - Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the blueprint on which life is based and transmitted, but the way in which chromatin-a dynamic complex of nucleic acids and proteins-is packaged and behaves in the cellular nucleus has only begun to be investigated. Epigenetic modifications sit 'on top of' the genome and affect how DNA is compacted into chromatin and transcribed into ribonucleic acid (RNA). The packaging and modifications around the genome have been shown to exert significant influence on cellular behaviour and, in turn, human development and disease. However, conventional techniques for studying epigenetic or conformational modifications of chromosomes have inherent limitations and, therefore, new methods based on micro- and nanoscale devices have been sought. Here, we review the development of these devices and explore their use in the study of DNA modifications, chromatin modifications and higher-order chromatin structures.
AB - Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the blueprint on which life is based and transmitted, but the way in which chromatin-a dynamic complex of nucleic acids and proteins-is packaged and behaves in the cellular nucleus has only begun to be investigated. Epigenetic modifications sit 'on top of' the genome and affect how DNA is compacted into chromatin and transcribed into ribonucleic acid (RNA). The packaging and modifications around the genome have been shown to exert significant influence on cellular behaviour and, in turn, human development and disease. However, conventional techniques for studying epigenetic or conformational modifications of chromosomes have inherent limitations and, therefore, new methods based on micro- and nanoscale devices have been sought. Here, we review the development of these devices and explore their use in the study of DNA modifications, chromatin modifications and higher-order chromatin structures.
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U2 - 10.1038/nnano.2013.195
DO - 10.1038/nnano.2013.195
M3 - Review article
C2 - 24091454
AN - SCOPUS:84885466400
SN - 1748-3387
VL - 8
SP - 709
EP - 718
JO - Nature Nanotechnology
JF - Nature Nanotechnology
IS - 10
ER -