Contents

#### **Preface XI**


Irene Marchesi and Luigi Bagella

Chapter 7 **Chromatin Remodeling in DNA Damage Response and Human Aging 153**

Lili Gong, Edward Wang and Shiaw-Yih Lin

Chapter 8 **Chromatin Remodelling During Host-Bacterial Pathogen Interaction 173** Yong Zhong Xu, Cynthia Kanagaratham and Danuta Radzioch

Preface

ways in treatment of these diseases.

sights into gene regulation, DNA repair, and human diseases.

In the eukaryotic cells, DNA, histone proteins and associated macromolecules are tightly packaged into chromatin. The basic unit of chromatin is the nucleosome – a DNA fragment wrapped around an octamer core of histone proteins. During the past two decades the field of chromatin research has advanced at an incredible pace due to the development of novel techniques. It has become increasingly clear that, rather than simply representing packaged DNA, chromatin organization undergoes dynamic changes and plays a key role in control‐ ling genome activities throughout life, from the onset of embryonic development to cell, tis‐ sue and organ differentiation. The term "chromatin remodelling" is widely used to describe changes in chromatin structure which is controlled by histone-modifying enzymes, chroma‐ tin remodelling complexes, non-histone DNA-binding proteins and noncoding RNAs. Many human diseases such as cancer, various genetic syndromes, autism and infectious disease have been linked to the disruption of these control processes by genetic, environmental or microbial factors. Therefore, to unravel the mechanisms by which they operate is one of the most exciting and rapid developing fields of modern biology and will contribute to new

The chapters in this book will focus on recent advances in our understanding of the mecha‐ nisms that govern the dynamic structural of chromatin, thereby providing important in‐

The book begins with the section "Molecular basis for chromatin structure and regulation" dealing with the molecular mechanisms underlying chromatin dynamics. In the first chapter "Chromatin Remodelers and Their Way of Action" written by Laura Manelyte and Gernot Langst, the authors give an overview of four major families of chromatin remodelers includ‐ ing SWI/SNF, ISWI, CHD and INO80 family. The domain compositions, components and basic functions of these remodelers have been described and the following three aspects re‐ lated to the functions of chromatin remodelers have been highlighted: 1) Mechanisms of nu‐ cleosome positioning in vitro and in vivo; 2) Targeting of remodelling machines to genomic loci and their specific interaction with the modified substrate and histone variants; 3) Regu‐ lation of remodeler activity. This chapter provides an excellent knowledge in understanding the mechanisms of chromatin remodelling by ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers.

Sumoylation is a post-translational modification of proteins by attachment of the small poly‐ peptide SUMO (small ubiquitin-like modifier), which plays an important role in various cel‐ lular processes, such as nuclear-cytosolic transport, transcriptional regulation, apoptosis, protein stability, signal transduction, cell cycle progression and differentiation. In the second chapter "SUMO Tasks in Chromatin Remodeling" written by Mario Garcia-Dominguez, the prominent function of SUMO in transcriptional regulation, in the context of chromatin struc‐

Chapter 9 **Rett Syndrome 199** Daniela Zahorakova
