Biochemical analysis of Polycomb protein-chromatin dynamics in vivo

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Nearly every cell in our bodies contains our full genetic blueprint (DNA), but each cell uses only a small part of the blueprint to direct its function. For example, immune cells are specialized to fight infection and brain cells to process information. During development, cells receive instructions about which part of the blueprint (which genes) to use. They organize their genetic material so that parts that will be used are easy to access, while parts that aren’t needed are stashed away. Thus different cells have the same genome organized in different ways. This genome organization is carried out by proteins that associate with DNA. Together, these proteins and the DNA form a structure called chromatin. Each time a cell divides, it duplicates the organization of chromatin so that the same parts of the genome are used by the two new cells. This is part of “cellular memory”, or how cells remember their identities and their histories, including effects of the environment.