Chromatin fibers observed in situ in frozen hydrated sections. Native fiber diameter is not correlated with nucleosome repeat length - PubMed (original) (raw)

Chromatin fibers observed in situ in frozen hydrated sections. Native fiber diameter is not correlated with nucleosome repeat length

C L Woodcock. J Cell Biol. 1994 Apr.

Abstract

Chromatin fibers have been observed and measured in frozen hydrated sections of three types of cell (chicken erythrocytes and sperm of Patiria miniata and Thyone briareus) representing an approximately 20-bp range of nucleosomal repeat lengths. For sperm of the starfish P. miniata, it was possible to obtain images of chromatin fibers from cells that were swimming in seawater up to the moment of cryo-immobilization, thus providing a record of the native morphology of the chromatin of these cells. Glutaraldehyde fixation produced no significant changes in the ultrastructure or diameter of chromatin fibers, and fiber diameters observed in cryosections were similar to those recorded after low temperature embedding in Lowicryl K11M. Chromatin fiber diameters measured from cryosections of the three types of nuclei were similar, a striking contrast to the situation for chromatin isolated from these cell types, where a strong positive correlation between diameter and nucleosomal repeat length has been established. The demonstration of chromatin fibers in unfixed whole cells establishes an unequivocal baseline for the study of native chromatin and chromosome architecture. The significant differences between chromatin fibers in nucleo and after isolation supports a previous observation (P. J. Giannasca, R. A. Horowitz, and C. L. Woodcock. 1993. J. Cell Sci. 105:551-561), and suggests that structural studies on isolated material should be interpreted with caution until the changes that accompany chromatin isolation are understood.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

• The diameters of frozen-hydrated chromatin fibers increase with DNA linker length: evidence in support of variable diameter models for chromatin.
  Athey BD, Smith MF, Rankert DA, Williams SP, Langmore JP. Athey BD, et al. J Cell Biol. 1990 Sep;111(3):795-806. doi: 10.1083/jcb.111.3.795. J Cell Biol. 1990. PMID: 2391364 Free PMC article.
• The three-dimensional architecture of chromatin in situ: electron tomography reveals fibers composed of a continuously variable zig-zag nucleosomal ribbon.
  Horowitz RA, Agard DA, Sedat JW, Woodcock CL. Horowitz RA, et al. J Cell Biol. 1994 Apr;125(1):1-10. doi: 10.1083/jcb.125.1.1. J Cell Biol. 1994. PMID: 8138564 Free PMC article.
• Chromatin fibers are left-handed double helices with diameter and mass per unit length that depend on linker length.
  Williams SP, Athey BD, Muglia LJ, Schappe RS, Gough AH, Langmore JP. Williams SP, et al. Biophys J. 1986 Jan;49(1):233-48. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(86)83637-2. Biophys J. 1986. PMID: 3955173 Free PMC article.
• Electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy studies of chromatin and metaphase chromosome structure.
  Daban JR. Daban JR. Micron. 2011 Dec;42(8):733-50. doi: 10.1016/j.micron.2011.05.002. Epub 2011 May 12. Micron. 2011. PMID: 21703860 Review.
• Electron microscopic imaging of chromatin with nucleosome resolution.
  Woodcock CL, Horowitz RA. Woodcock CL, et al. Methods Cell Biol. 1998;53:167-86. doi: 10.1016/s0091-679x(08)60879-1. Methods Cell Biol. 1998. PMID: 9348509 Review. No abstract available.

Cited by

• A DNA condensation code for linker histones.
  Watson M, Sabirova D, Hardy MC, Pan Y, Carpentier DCJ, Yates H, Wright CJ, Chan WH, Destan E, Stott K. Watson M, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Aug 13;121(33):e2409167121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2409167121. Epub 2024 Aug 8. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024. PMID: 39116133
• Structure of mitotic chromosomes.
  Beel AJ, Azubel M, Matteï PJ, Kornberg RD. Beel AJ, et al. Mol Cell. 2021 Nov 4;81(21):4369-4376.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.08.020. Epub 2021 Sep 13. Mol Cell. 2021. PMID: 34520722 Free PMC article.
• Genome Reorganization during Erythroid Differentiation.
  Ryzhkova A, Battulin N. Ryzhkova A, et al. Genes (Basel). 2021 Jun 30;12(7):1012. doi: 10.3390/genes12071012. Genes (Basel). 2021. PMID: 34208866 Free PMC article. Review.
• Interphase epichromatin: last refuge for the 30-nm chromatin fiber?
  Xu P, Mahamid J, Dombrowski M, Baumeister W, Olins AL, Olins DE. Xu P, et al. Chromosoma. 2021 Sep;130(2-3):91-102. doi: 10.1007/s00412-021-00759-8. Epub 2021 Jun 5. Chromosoma. 2021. PMID: 34091761 Review.

References

1. 1. Q Rev Biophys. 1988 May;21(2):129-228 - PubMed
2. 1. J Ultrastruct Mol Struct Res. 1986 Apr-Jun;95(1-3):196-209 - PubMed
3. 1. J Microsc. 1990 Feb;157(Pt 2):205-24 - PubMed
4. 1. J Cell Biol. 1990 Sep;111(3):795-806 - PubMed
5. 1. Electron Microsc Rev. 1989;2(1):117-21 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources

• Full Text Sources

  • Europe PubMed Central
  • Ovid Technologies, Inc.
  • PubMed Central
  • Silverchair Information Systems

• Miscellaneous

  • Xenbase