Cryo-ET reveals the macromolecular reorganization of mitotic chromosomes in vivo.

Chromosomes condense during mitosis in most eukaryotes. This transformation involves rearrangements at the nucleosome level and has consequences for transcription. Here, we use cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) to determine the 3D arrangement of nuclear macromolecular complexes, including nucleosomes, in frozen-hydrated cells. Using 3D classification analysis, we did not find evidence that nucleosomes resembling the crystal structure are abundant. This observation and those from other groups support the notion that a subset of fission yeast nucleosomes may be partially unwrapped in vivo. In both interphase and mitotic cells, there is also no evidence of monolithic structures the size of Hi-C domains. The chromatin is mingled with two features: pockets, which are positions free of macromolecular complexes; and "megacomplexes," which are multimegadalton globular complexes like preribosomes. Mitotic chromatin is more crowded than interphase chromatin in subtle ways. Nearest-neighbor distance analyses show that mitotic chromatin is more compacted at the oligonucleosome than the dinucleosome level. Like interphase, mitotic chromosomes contain megacomplexes and pockets. This uneven chromosome condensation helps explain a longstanding enigma of mitosis: a subset of genes is up-regulated.