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The Interchromatin Compartment Participates in the Structural and Functional Organization of the Cell Nucleus
Author(s) -
Cremer Thomas,
Cremer Marion,
Hübner Barbara,
Silahtaroglu Asli,
Hendzel Michael,
Lanctôt Christian,
Strickfaden Hilmar,
Cremer Christoph
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.201900132
Subject(s) - compartment (ship) , nucleus , microbiology and biotechnology , cell nucleus , cell , cellular compartment , chemistry , biology , biochemistry , oceanography , geology
This article focuses on the role of the interchromatin compartment (IC) in shaping nuclear landscapes. The IC is connected with nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) and harbors splicing speckles and nuclear bodies. It is postulated that the IC provides routes for imported transcription factors to target sites, for export routes of mRNA as ribonucleoproteins toward NPCs, as well as for the intranuclear passage of regulatory RNAs from sites of transcription to remote functional sites (IC hypothesis). IC channels are lined by less‐compacted euchromatin, called the perichromatin region (PR). The PR and IC together form the active nuclear compartment (ANC). The ANC is co‐aligned with the inactive nuclear compartment (INC), comprising more compacted heterochromatin. It is postulated that the INC is accessible for individual transcription factors, but inaccessible for larger macromolecular aggregates (limited accessibility hypothesis). This functional nuclear organization depends on still unexplored movements of genes and regulatory sequences between the two compartments.