Large-scale simulations of nucleoprotein complexes: ribosomes, nucleosomes, chromatin, chromosomes and CRISPR

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2019 Apr:55:104-113. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2019.03.004. Epub 2019 May 21.

Abstract

Recent advances in biotechnology such as Hi-C, CRISPR/Cas9 and ribosome display have placed nucleoprotein complexes at center stage. Understanding the structural dynamics of these complexes aids in optimizing protocols and interpreting data for these new technologies. The integration of simulation and experiment has helped advance mechanistic understanding of these systems. Coarse-grained simulations, reduced-description models, and explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations yield useful complementary perspectives on nucleoprotein complex structural dynamics. When combined with Hi-C, cryo-EM, and single molecule measurements, these simulations integrate disparate forms of experimental data into a coherent mechanism.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Chromatin / chemistry*
  • Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats / genetics
  • Cryoelectron Microscopy / methods
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Nucleosomes / chemistry*
  • Ribosomes / chemistry*

Substances

  • Chromatin
  • Nucleosomes