Exploring SMC motor proteins and how to stop them

Genetic information encoded in the DNA sequences is maintained, replicated, and transcribed across the tree of life. Organisms evolved multiple hierarchical layers of chromosome organization which ensure that DNA can be contained but also processed within individual cells. This thesis focuses on SMC (Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes)...

Chromosome metamorphoses: on the atypical roles of condensin II

Every human being originates from a single fertilized egg cell, continuously duplicating to form a body consisting of trillions of cells in a process known as the cell cycle. This cycle involves two major stages: interphase, where the cell prepares for division, and mitosis, where it divides into two daughter cells. The accurate duplication and...

Topology in soft and biological matter

The last years have witnessed remarkable advances in our understanding of the emergence and consequences of topological constraints in biological and soft matter. Examples are abundant in relation to (bio)polymeric systems and range from the characterization of knots in single polymers and proteins to that of whole chromosomes and polymer melts....

Looping the Genome with SMC Complexes

SMC (structural maintenance of chromosomes) protein complexes are an evolutionarily conserved family of motor proteins that hold sister chromatids together and fold genomes throughout the cell cycle by DNA loop extrusion. These complexes play a key role in a variety of functions in the packaging and regulation of chromosomes, and they have...

Spatially coherent diffusion of human RNA Pol II depends on transcriptional state rather than chromatin motion

Gene transcription by RNA polymerase II (RNAPol II) is a tightly regulated process in the genomic, temporal, and spatial context. Recently, we have shown that chromatin exhibits spatially coherently moving regions over the entire nucleus, which is enhanced by transcription. Yet, it remains unclear how the mobility of RNA Pol II molecules is...

Dynamics as a cause for the nanoscale organization of the genome

Chromatin ‘blobs’ were recently identified by live super-resolution imaging of labeled nucleosomes as pervasive but fleeting structural entities. However, the mechanisms leading to the formation of these blobs and their functional implications are unknown. We explore here whether causal relationships exist between parameters that characterize...