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A molecular dissection of nuclear function
Author(s) -
Spector David L,
Gasser Susan M
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.1038/sj.embor.embor701
Subject(s) - spring (device) , library science , art history , history , environmental ethics , computer science , physics , philosophy , thermodynamics
The meeting ‘The Dynamic Nucleus: Questions and Implications’ took place at Imperial College, London, UK, between June 27 and 29, 2002. It was sponsored by the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre in London and was organized by Niall Dillon and Ana Pombo.![][1] Over the course of two and a half days, hypotheses and results about the organization and function of the eukaryotic nucleus were discussed intensely in the congenial atmosphere of this meeting. The topics covered ranged from DNA repair to nuclear actin, from nucleolar assembly to the deposition of histone variants, and from technical aspects of fluorescence signal separation to the analysis of chromatin dynamics in living cells. Many nuclear domains have previously been identified (Fig. 1) and recent advances in live‐cell imaging techniques have opened the door for real‐time analyses of the diverse range of nuclear functions associated with these structures. Nearly every major nuclear process was discussed, yet the most novel ideas dealt with the dynamics of nuclear structures and events. New ways to monitor dynamics, paired with the fact that nuclear organization now attracts experts from a wide range of fields, left participants uniformly excited about the potential offered by the marriage of live fluorescence imaging and molecular genetics. A few highlights of the work presented at the meeting follow.Figure 1. Diagram of a mammalian cell nucleus showing many of the nuclear domains that have been identified so far. Although each of these domains can be easily observed by light or electron microscopy approaches, remarkably, a large number of their protein constitutents are highly dynamic. For a detailed overview of these compartments see Spector (2001).### Rapid diffusion of nuclear factorsA large number of studies that monitor fluorescence recovery kinetics of green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion proteins after photobleaching (FRAP; see Fig. 2) have taught us that nuclear factors are highly dynamic, … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif