In this review we evaluate recent achievements in the understanding of the influence of geometrical factors on the regulation of transcription. We survey and compare the different formalisms used in biology, chemistry and physics in order to draw their similarities and differences. We aim to foster cross-disciplinary interactions among these fields, potentially leading to a more unified usage of these concepts. While the mechanisms behind the regulation of gene expression are far from being fully understood, its very first step requires two or more biomolecules to

interact at a given moment of time in a given position of the space. In a first approximation to this problem, we Ion Channel Ligand Library can consider the Selleck Ku 0059436 nucleus as a closed container in which a number of reactants diffuse prior to engage in a chemical reaction. In this idealized system, the kinetics of the reaction can simply be derived from the law of mass action (given that the system were in equilibrium). As such, the reaction rate is proportional to the product of the concentrations of the participating molecules. To evaluate the reaction kinetics when a small number of reactants are involved, as often the case in gene expression [12], the first step is to

assess the probability of encounter between reactants. In this scenario, the diffusion properties of the molecules, given by the Einstein–Smoluchowski equation, determine the first-encounter time 12 and 13. With such a simplified model of gene expression, it is easy to imagine the role of crowding, molecular exclusion, and local concentration in the kinetics of this process (Figure 1), and by extension in all the biochemistry of the cell. High molecular weight components in

the nucleus, such as prominently but not exclusively chromatin, effectively reduce the accessible volume in which TFs are free to diffuse, potentially regulating the process of gene expression. A ‘rule of thumb’ for the volume of a DNA is 1 nm3/bp.1 Thus, neglecting tetracosactide adsorbed water, the volume of human DNA is ∼2 ×3 × 109 = 6 ×109 nm3. Similarly, the exclusion volume of nucleosomes can be computed,2 leading to an estimated volume of chromatin of ∼25 μm3, which is a fraction of 12% of the volume of a human nucleus (∼6 μm diameter3). Other estimates (10% in [15], 20–50% in [16]) give similar order of magnitude. In a simple model of first order reaction, such exclusion volume would at most change by a mere factor of two the rate of homogenous biochemical reactions. We must thus take into consideration other characteristics such as the complex geometry of nuclear organization or the heterogeneity of local molecular concentration.