Yusuf Mohammed, Farooq Safana, Robinson Ian, Lalani El-Nasir
London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, London, WC1H 0AH, UK.
Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Aga Khan University, P.O.Box 3500, Karachi, 74800, Pakistan.
Biophys Rev. 2020 Oct;12(5):1257-1263. doi: 10.1007/s12551-020-00757-7. Epub 2020 Oct 2.
The high-order structure of mitotic chromosomes remains to be fully elucidated. How nucleosomes compact at various structural levels into a condensed mitotic chromosome is unclear. Cryogenic preservation and imaging have been applied for over three decades, keeping biological structures close to the native in vivo state. Despite being extensively utilized, this field is still wide open for mitotic chromosome research. In this review, we focus specifically on cryogenic efforts for determining the mitotic nanoscale chromatin structures. We describe vitrification methods, current status, and applications of advanced cryo-microscopy including future tools required for resolving the native architecture of these fascinating structures that hold the instructions to life.
有丝分裂染色体的高阶结构仍有待充分阐明。核小体如何在不同结构水平上压缩成浓缩的有丝分裂染色体尚不清楚。低温保存和成像技术已经应用了三十多年，可使生物结构接近体内的天然状态。尽管该技术得到了广泛应用，但在有丝分裂染色体研究领域仍有很大的探索空间。在本综述中，我们特别关注用于确定有丝分裂纳米级染色质结构的低温研究。我们描述了玻璃化方法、当前状况以及先进低温显微镜的应用，包括解析这些承载生命指令的迷人结构的天然架构所需的未来工具。
