Chromatin assembly factors: a dual function in nucleosome formation and mobilization?

Chromatin assembly is a process that interfaces DNA replication, gene expression and progression through the cell cycle, and it is therefore critically involved in many important biological phenomena. This brief review provides a general background to the study of chromatin assembly, as well as an overview of putative chromatin assembly factors. Interestingly, recent data suggest that the ATP-utilizing chromatin assembly factor, ACF, functions not only in nucleosome formation, but also in the ATP-dependent remodelling of chromatin that facilitates DNA-utilizing processes, such as transcription, replication, recombination, and repair.