nucleosome

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

/ ˈnu kli əˌsoʊm, ˈnyu- /

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noun Cell Biology.

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

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Origin of nucleosome

First recorded in 1960–65; nucleo- + -some³

Words nearby nucleosome

nucleoplasm, nucleoprotein, nucleosidase, nucleoside, nucleoside analogue, nucleosome, nucleosynthesis, nucleotide, nucleotides, nucleus, nuclide

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use nucleosome in a sentence

Their observations confirmed that the structures of archaeal nucleosomes are less fixed.
DNA’s Histone Spools Hint at How Complex Cells Evolved|Viviane Callier|May 10, 2021|Quanta Magazine
As a first step toward those answers, Sandman joined forces several years ago with the structural biologist Karolin Luger, who solved the structure of the eukaryotic nucleosome in 1997.
DNA’s Histone Spools Hint at How Complex Cells Evolved|Viviane Callier|May 10, 2021|Quanta Magazine
Last July, Kurdistani’s team reported that in yeast nucleosomes, there is a catalytic site at the interface of two histone H3 proteins that can bind and electrochemically reduce copper.
DNA’s Histone Spools Hint at How Complex Cells Evolved|Viviane Callier|May 10, 2021|Quanta Magazine
By curving the DNA around the nucleosome, the histones prevent it from clumping together and keep it functional.
DNA’s Histone Spools Hint at How Complex Cells Evolved|Viviane Callier|May 10, 2021|Quanta Magazine

By wrapping the DNA, the nucleosomes keep the DNA safely out of the way.
DNA’s Histone Spools Hint at How Complex Cells Evolved|Viviane Callier|May 10, 2021|Quanta Magazine

British Dictionary definitions for nucleosome

nucleosome

/ (ˈnjuːklɪəˌsəʊm) /

noun

a repeating structural unit of chromatin that contains DNA and histones

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for nucleosome

nucleosome

[ nōō′klē-ə-sōm′ ]

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