nucleosome

[ noo-klee-uh-sohm, nyoo- ]

noun

, Cell Biology.

1. any of the repeating subunits of chromatin occurring at intervals along a strand of DNA, consisting of DNA coiled around histone.

nucleosome

/ ˈnjuːklɪəˌsəʊm /

noun

1. a repeating structural unit of chromatin that contains DNA and histones

nucleosome

/ no̅o̅′klē-ə-sōm′ /

1. Any of the repeating subunits of chromatin in eukaryotic cells, consisting of a DNA chain coiled around a core of histones.
2. See Note at histone

Word History and Origins

Origin of nucleosome¹

First recorded in 1960–65; nucleo- + -some ³

Example Sentences

The nucleosome forms a fundamental repeating unit of chromatin.

From Science Daily

Each nucleosome consists of approximately 147 base pairs of DNA wrapped around a histone octamer which is composed of two H2A-H2B dimers and one H3-H4 tetramer.

From Science Daily

Notably, they observed that Spt16, a component of FACT, captures the histones that have been completely stripped off the duplex DNA from the parental nucleosome.

From Science Daily

Figure 1 | How molecules in cancer cells inhibit the repair of DNA damage. a, DNA wraps around histone proteins to form a structure called a nucleosome.

From Nature

Perhaps nucleosomes in the main body of a gene — which have different patterns of nucleosome packing and chromatin modification from those of other chromosomal regions — are preferred substrates for the condensates.

From Nature