Question

What are the mechanisms to create cell memory?

Answer 1

Each cell type can be distinguished based on its transcription factors, and by changing the expression of one or more transcription factors cells can be converted from one type to another type of cells. The particular protein rings encircling the DNA is responsible to cause the cell’s memory. A large protein complex, cohesion, is positioned as a ring around the two DNA strands that are formed when a cell divides, marking virtually all the places on the DNA where transcription factors were bound. Cohesin encircles the DNA strand like a ring can do around a piece of string, and protein complexes that replicate DNA can pass through the ring without displacing it. So, the two new DNA strands are caught in the ring, only one cohesion protein is required to mark the two, thereby helping the transcription factors to find their original binding region on both DNA strands.