Figure 3 - full size

 

Figure 3.
Fig. 3. Schematic illustration of the predicted effect of PA clamps on nucleosome dissociation. In the absence of ligand binding, nucleosome dissociation initiates with unraveling of the DNA ends, followed by dissociation of the (H2A-H2B) dimers, and finally by the dissociation of the (H3-H4)[2] tetramer. Binding clamp to the nucleosomes leads to the formation of a closed 80-bp DNA supercoil that prevents further disassembly of the nucleosomes.