Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, B107 CLSL, 601 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, United States.
Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2014 Feb;26:69-78. doi: 10.1016/j.ceb.2013.10.002. Epub 2013 Nov 13.
Traditionally large-scale chromatin structure has been studied by microscopic approaches, providing direct spatial information but limited sequence context. In contrast, newer 3C (chromosome capture conformation) methods provide rich sequence context but uncertain spatial context. Recent demonstration of large, topologically linked DNA domains, hundreds to thousands of kb in size, may now link 3C data to actual chromosome physical structures, as visualized directly by microscopic methods. Yet, new data suggesting that 3C may measure cytological rather than molecular proximity prompts a renewed focus on understanding the origin of 3C interactions and dissecting the biological significance of long-range genomic interactions.
传统上，大规模染色质结构的研究是通过显微镜方法进行的，提供了直接的空间信息，但序列背景有限。相比之下，更新的 3C（染色体捕获构象）方法提供了丰富的序列背景，但空间背景不确定。最近对大型、拓扑连接的 DNA 结构域的研究表明，这些结构域的大小为数千到数千 kb，可以将 3C 数据与直接通过显微镜方法观察到的实际染色体物理结构联系起来。然而，新的数据表明 3C 可能测量的是细胞学而不是分子上的接近程度，这促使人们重新关注理解 3C 相互作用的起源，并剖析长距离基因组相互作用的生物学意义。
