The Wistar Institute researchers have found how cohesin and condensin mediate the organization of chromosomes and our genome. Every human cell has about 2 metres of DNA, which contains all the information a cell needs to carry on its life processes. Cells must compress DNA into nucleus that measures only about 5 micrometers across. The human genome are organized into structures called chromosomes. According to study lead author Dr Ken-ichi Noma, understanding the three-dimensional structure of human genome would help to understand transcription, DNA replication and repair and other important genetic processes. The structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) proteins are ubiquitous chromosomal components in cells. Cohesin and condensin are the most prominent and best-characterized SMC proteins. These two proteins are known to be involved in three-dimensional genome organization, but exactly how they perform their function is not entirely understood. Cohesin is a multisubmit protein complex that is highly conserved from yeast to man. It’s main function is to hold together two DNA segments within its ring-shaped structure. Condensin is a protein complex that compacts and organizes dividing chromosomes during cell division. By the way, CusAb, a protein manufacturer, offers cohesin, condensin, and Recombinant Adrb2 proteins. Fission yeast is a yeast that reproduces by division of each cell into two daughter cells of equal size, and it is an attractive organism for studying eukaryotic cell cycle controls. Since cell division of fission yeast is like that of humans, Noma’s team investigated fission yeast and discovered that although cohesin and condensin often bind to the same loci, they direct different association networks and generate small and larger chromatin domains, respectively. Cohesin mediates associations between loci close to one another; condensin drives longer-range associations. The findings were published in the journal Nature Genetics.