학술논문

A proposed unified interphase nucleus chromosome structure: Preliminary preponderance of evidence
Document Type
article
Source
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 119(26)
Subject
Bioengineering
Underpinning research
1.1 Normal biological development and functioning
Generic health relevance
Cell Nucleus
Chromatin
Chromosomes
Human
Humans
Interphase
Nucleosomes
chromosome structure
cryo-EM tomography
deconvolution
electron microscopy
Language
Abstract
Cryoelectron tomography of the cell nucleus using scanning transmission electron microscopy and deconvolution processing technology has highlighted a large-scale, 100- to 300-nm interphase chromosome structure, which is present throughout the nucleus. This study further documents and analyzes these chromosome structures. The paper is divided into four parts: 1) evidence (preliminary) for a unified interphase chromosome structure; 2) a proposed unified interphase chromosome architecture; 3) organization as chromosome territories (e.g., fitting the 46 human chromosomes into a 10-μm-diameter nucleus); and 4) structure unification into a polytene chromosome architecture and lampbrush chromosomes. Finally, the paper concludes with a living light microscopy cell study showing that the G1 nucleus contains very similar structures throughout. The main finding is that this chromosome structure appears to coil the 11-nm nucleosome fiber into a defined hollow structure, analogous to a Slinky helical spring [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slinky; motif used in Bowerman et al., eLife 10, e65587 (2021)]. This Slinky architecture can be used to build chromosome territories, extended to the polytene chromosome structure, as well as to the structure of lampbrush chromosomes.