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Chromatin accessibility

Pioneers conquer core histones at the chromatin frontier

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Pioneer transcription factors access gene regulatory sites embedded within chromatin. They drive gene expression programs vital for cell fate decisions and cellular reprogramming, but how they engage nucleosomal sites at the molecular level is unclear. New results show that they engage histones and collaborate to overcome the nucleosome barrier.

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Fig. 1: Histone and histone–tail interactions of pioneer factors.
Fig. 2: Models of chromatin opening by PFs.

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by the DFG (Project-IDs 453441129, 213249687 - SFB 1064 and 325871075 - SFB 1309) and LMU Munich.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Center Munich, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg, Germany

    Magdalena Murawska, Andreas G. Ladurner & Carla E. Margulies

  2. International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Molecular Life Sciences, Planegg, Germany

    Andreas G. Ladurner

  3. Eisbach Bio GmbH, Planegg, Germany

    Andreas G. Ladurner

Authors
  1. Magdalena Murawska
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  2. Andreas G. Ladurner
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  3. Carla E. Margulies
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Magdalena Murawska or Carla E. Margulies.

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Competing interests

A.G.L. is a founder, CSO and managing director of Eisbach Bio GmbH, a biotechnology company in oncology and virology. All other authors declare no competing interests.

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Murawska, M., Ladurner, A.G. & Margulies, C.E. Pioneers conquer core histones at the chromatin frontier. Nat Struct Mol Biol 30, 1050–1053 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-023-01058-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-023-01058-9

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