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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Single-Molecule Imaging of EWS-FLI1 Condensates Assembling on DNA
Published on: September 8, 2021
Giant DNA molecules exhibit on/off switching of transcriptional activity through conformational transition
Kanta Tsumoto1, François Luckel, Kenichi Yoshikawa
1Department of Chemistry for Materials, Faculty of Engineering, Mie University, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan. tsumoto@chem.mie-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
We found that the transcriptional activity of large DNAs (40 kbp) can be completely inhibited by adding condensing agents, spermine and poly(ethylene glycol), whereas under the same conditions short fragments (140 bp) still show active transcription. Fluorescence microscopic observations of large DNAs revealed clear correlation between the higher-order structure of templates and their transcriptional activity. The steep decrease in transcriptional activity leading to complete inhibition, or on/off switching, is interpreted in terms of conformational transition of the ensemble of DNA molecules.
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