By way of its clear and logical structure, as well as abundant high-resolution illustrations, this is a systematic survey of the players and pathways that control genome function in the mammalian cell nucleus. As such, this handbook and reference ties together recently gained knowledge from a variety of scientific disciplines and approaches, dissecting all major genomic events: replication, recombination, repair, and transcription. A special emphasis is put on transcriptional control, including genome-wide interactions and non-coding RNAs, chromatin epigenetics and nuclear organization. With its focus on fundamental mechanisms and the associated biomolecules, this will remain essential reading for years to come.
Preface xix
List of Contributors xxi
1 Deciphering DNA Sequence Information 1
2 DNA Methylation 21
3 Nucleosomes as Control Elements for Accessing the Genome 55
4 Histone Modifications and Their Role as Epigenetic Marks 89
5 Chromatin Remodeling and Nucleosome Positioning 111
6 The Folding of the Nucleosome Chain 139
7 The Crowded Environment of the Genome 169
8 The Nuclear Lamina as a Chromatin Organizer 185
9 Three-Dimensional Architecture of Genomes 211
10 Transcriptional Initiation: Frequency, Bursting, and Transcription Factories 235
11 Processing of mRNA and Quality Control 255
12 The Nucleolus 279
13 Non-Coding RNAs as Regulators of Transcription and Genome Organization 309
14 RNA Networks as Digital Control Circuits of Nuclear Functions 353
15 DNA Replication and Inheritance of Epigenetic States 365
16 Interplay and Quality Control of DNA Damage Repair Mechanisms 395
17 Higher Order Chromatin Organization and Dynamics 417
18 The Mitotic Chromosome: Structure and Mechanics 449
19 Meiotic Chromosome Dynamics 487
20 Understanding Genome Function: Quantitative Modeling of Chromatin Folding and Chromatin-Associated Processes 535
Index 557
Karsten Rippe leads the Research Group Genome Organization & Function at the German Cancer Research Center and the BioQuant Institute in Heidelberg, Germany. In his research, he combines molecular/cell biology and physics to quantitatively investigate and model the relation between nuclear DNA organization and cell function. Karsten Rippe has obtained his academic degrees from the University of Gottingen while working at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry and continued his scientific career at the University of Oregon in Eugene and the Kirchhoff-Institut fur Physik in Heidelberg. He has authored more than 80 scientific publications in the fields of DNA structure, transcription and chromatin and has received several scientific awards, including the Otto Hahn medal of the Max Planck Society and the European Beckman DNA Award.