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Discovered a hidden physical code that modulates genome expression

By 14 de June de 2013November 18th, 2020No Comments
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Different views of a DNA molecule ©3DMaps/IRB Barcelona/BSC-CNS.
 14.06.2013

Discovered a hidden physical code that modulates genome expression

Researchers with the joint programme Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona)- Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) on Computational Biology, together with scientists at Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) have discovered a hidden DNA structural code that provides novel insights on gene expression. The results are available in the electronic version of Nucleid Acids Research ().


Gene expression is a complex process regulated by many different molecular mechanisms; the location of promoters is key to understand it. In particular, one of the biggest challenges is the location of promoters such as the transcription start sites (TSSs) – sequences of DNA that code for a particular protein with a certain function in the cell.

Traditionally, the specific DNA sequence on promoter regions has been considered as the most important regulatory element in transcription (the first step leading to gene expression). But a new paradigm is proposed in the study: promoters can be defined, not only by their sequence, but also by their structure, characterized by distinctive physicochemical properties that will bring an unusual physical deformability (shift, slide, twist, tilt, roll) which might favour protein recognition.