Xu Jianquan, Liu Yang
Biomedical Optical Imaging Laboratory, Department of Medicine and Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
University of Pittsburgh Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Jun 10;9:653077. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.653077. eCollection 2021.
Chromatin organization play a vital role in gene regulation and genome maintenance in normal biological processes and in response to environmental insults. Disruption of chromatin organization imposes a significant effect on many cellular processes and is often associated with a range of pathological processes such as aging and cancer. Extensive attention has been attracted to understand the structural and functional studies of chromatin architecture. Biochemical assays coupled with the state-of-the-art genomic technologies have been traditionally used to probe chromatin architecture. Recent advances in single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) open up new opportunities to directly visualize higher-order chromatin architecture, its compaction status and its functional states at nanometer resolution in the intact cells or tissue. In this review, we will first discuss the recent technical advantages and challenges of using SMLM to image chromatin architecture. Next, we will focus on the recent applications of SMLM for structural and functional studies to probe chromatin architecture in key cellular processes. Finally, we will provide our perspectives on the recent development and potential applications of super-resolution imaging of chromatin architecture in improving our understanding in diseases.
染色质组织在正常生物学过程以及对环境损伤的应答中，对基因调控和基因组维持起着至关重要的作用。染色质组织的破坏对许多细胞过程产生重大影响，并且常常与一系列病理过程相关，如衰老和癌症。为了解染色质结构的结构和功能研究，已引起广泛关注。传统上，生化分析与最先进的基因组技术相结合用于探测染色质结构。单分子定位显微镜（SMLM）的最新进展为在完整细胞或组织中以纳米分辨率直接可视化高阶染色质结构、其压缩状态及其功能状态开辟了新机会。在本综述中，我们首先将讨论使用SMLM对染色质结构进行成像的近期技术优势和挑战。接下来，我们将重点关注SMLM在关键细胞过程中用于探测染色质结构的结构和功能研究的近期应用。最后，我们将对染色质结构超分辨率成像在增进我们对疾病的理解方面的近期发展和潜在应用发表我们的看法。
