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CHROMATIN

Liquid–liquid phase separation is an intrinsic physicochemical property of chromatin

Chromatin is compartmentalized spatially and temporally at multiple levels, but the precise organization of chromatin and mechanisms underlying its restructuring remain unclear. Two studies published in Cell and Nature now demonstrate the ability of chromatin to undergo liquid–liquid phase separation under physiological conditions and show that this intrinsic physicochemical property of chromatin can be regulated.

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Fig. 1: Chromatin has an intrinsic ability to undergo phase separation.

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Correspondence to Tatiana G. Kutateladze.

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Zhang, Y., Kutateladze, T.G. Liquid–liquid phase separation is an intrinsic physicochemical property of chromatin. Nat Struct Mol Biol 26, 1085–1086 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-019-0333-8

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