Genome organization via loop extrusion, insights from polymer physics models.
Brief Funct Genomics, 19:119-127.
Understanding how genomes fold and organize is one of the main challenges in modern biology. Recent high-throughput techniques like Hi-C, in combination withcutting-edge polymer physics models, have provided access to precise informationon 3D chromosome folding to decipher the mechanisms driving such multi-scale organization. In particular, structural maintenance of chromosome (SMC) proteinsplay an important role in the local structuration of chromatin, putatively via aloop extrusion process. Here, we review the different polymer physics models that investigate the role of SMCs in the formation of topologically associated domains (TADs) during interphase via the formation of dynamic loops. We describe the main physical ingredients, compare them and discuss their relevance against experimental observations.
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