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Updated: May 26, 2026

Deciphering Molecular Mechanism of Histone Assembly by DNA Curtain Technique
Published on: March 9, 2022
[The interaction of DNA with sperm-specific histones of the H1 family]
Abstract:
We have studied the interactions of DNA with sperm-specific histones of the H1 family of sea urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius, sea starfish Aphelasterias japonica and bivalve mollusk Chlamis islandicus using circular dichroism and DNA melting analysis. It was shown that echinoderm's sperm H1 protein has additional alpha-helical domains in its C-terminus and it demonstrates stronger DNA compaction. The differential melting curves of DNA-protein complexes have two peaks. The low temperature peak characterized the melting temperature of free DNA within the complex. The higher temperature peak characterizes the melting temperature of DNA bond to protein. DNA is found to be in the most stable state in the complexes with mollusk sperm H1 protein.
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