Orateur
Description
In this work, we investigate how linker DNA length and chromatin state shape the physical properties of chromatin fibers using physics-based polymer models. To this end, we have developed an open-source simulation framework that models DNA at 10.5 bp resolution and represents nucleosomes explicitly as 14–15 DNA segments wrapped around a histone core.
We compare chromatin fibers in open states that mimic histone acetylation, and closed states enriched in linker histone H1. For each chromatin state, we systematically explore integer,and half-integer linker lengths, corresponding to in-phase and out-of-phase nucleosome orientations. By quantifying observables such as the radius of gyration, mean-square internal distance, and persistence length, we show how variations in linker architecture and chromatin state strongly affect the mechanical and structural properties of chromatin fibers.