supercoiled

/ˈsupərˌkɔɪld/
adjective
  1. Twisted or coiled tightly upon itself, especially referring to DNA or other long molecules.
    • Under the microscope, the supercoiled chromosome looked like a tangled knot.
    • Scientists studied how supercoiled structures affect gene expression.
    • The supercoiled DNA was tightly packed inside the cell nucleus.
Antonyms