The use of DAPI fluorescence lifetime imaging for investigating chromatin condensation in human chromosomes.

ABSTRACT: Chromatin undergoes dramatic condensation and decondensation as cells transition between the different phases of the cell cycle. The organization of chromatin in chromosomes is still one of the key challenges in structural biology. Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), a technique which utilizes a fluorophore's fluorescence lifetime to probe changes in its environment, was used to investigate variations in chromatin compaction in fixed human chromosomes. Fixed human metaphase and interphase chromosomes were labeled with the DNA minor groove binder, DAPI, followed by measurement and imaging of the fluorescence lifetime using multiphoton excitation. DAPI lifetime variations in metaphase chromosome spreads allowed mapping of the differentially compacted regions of chromatin along the length o

SUBMITTER: Estandarte AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4985626 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature