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Structural hierarchy of chromatin in chicken erythrocyte nuclei based on small-angle neutron scattering: Fractal nature of the large-scale chromatin organization

  • Structure of Macromolecular Compounds
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Abstract

The chromatin organization in chicken erythrocyte nuclei was studied by small-angle neutron scattering in the scattering-vector range from 1.5 × 10−1 to 10−4 Å−1 with the use of the contrast-variation technique. This scattering-vector range corresponds to linear dimensions from 4 nm to 6 μm and covers the whole hierarchy of chromatin structures, from the nucleosomal structure to the entire nucleus. The results of the present study allowed the following conclusions to be drawn: (1) both the chromatin-protein structure and the structure of the nucleic acid component in chicken erythrocyte nuclei have mass-fractal properties, (2) the structure of the protein component of chromatin exhibits a fractal behavior on scales extending over two orders of magnitude, from the nucleosomal size to the size of an entire nucleus, and (3) the structure of the nucleic acid component of chromatin in chicken erythrocyte nuclei is likewise of a fractal nature and has two levels of organization or two phases with the crossover point at about 300–400 nm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Orlova Roshcha 1, Gatchina, Leningrad oblast, 188300, Russia

    D. V. Lebedev, M. V. Filatov, R. A. Pantina, Yu. Yu. Denisov, B. P. Toperverg & V. V. Isaev-Ivanov

  2. Biofizika Research and Education Center of St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University and the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, 195251, Russia

    D. V. Lebedev & V. V. Isaev-Ivanov

  3. Joint Institute of Nuclear Research, ul. Zholio-Kyuri 6, Dubna, Moscow oblast, 141980, Russia

    A. I. Kuklin & A. Kh. Islamov

  4. Research Centre Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany

    J. Stellbrink

Authors
  1. D. V. Lebedev
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  2. M. V. Filatov
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  3. A. I. Kuklin
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  4. A. Kh. Islamov
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  5. J. Stellbrink
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  6. R. A. Pantina
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  7. Yu. Yu. Denisov
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  8. B. P. Toperverg
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  9. V. V. Isaev-Ivanov
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. V. Lebedev.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © D.V. Lebedev, M.V. Filatov, A.I. Kuklin, A.Kh. Islamov, J. Stellbrink, R.A. Pantina, Yu.Yu. Denisov, B.P. Toperverg, V.V. Isaev-Ivanov, 2008, published in Kristallografiya, 2008, Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 111–116.

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Lebedev, D.V., Filatov, M.V., Kuklin, A.I. et al. Structural hierarchy of chromatin in chicken erythrocyte nuclei based on small-angle neutron scattering: Fractal nature of the large-scale chromatin organization. Crystallogr. Rep. 53, 110–115 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063774508010136

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063774508010136

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