Nanoscale 3D DNA tracing reveals the mechanism of self-organization of mitotic chromosomes.

ABSTRACT: How genomic DNA is folded during cell division to form the characteristic rod-shaped mitotic chromosomes essential for faithful genome inheritance is a long-standing open question in biology. Here, we use nanoscale DNA-tracing in single dividing cells to directly visualize how the 3D fold of genomic DNA changes during mitosis, at scales from single loops to entire chromosomes. Our structural analysis reveals a characteristic genome scaling minimum at 6-8 Mbp in mitosis. Combined with data-driven modeling and molecular perturbations, we can show that very large and strongly overlapping loops formed by Condensins are the fundamental structuring principle of mitotic chromosomes. These loops compact chromosomes locally and globally to the limit set by chromatin self-repulsion. The characterist

SUBMITTER: Beckwith KS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11565811 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature