Open AccessA multi-layered structure of the interphase chromocenter revealed by proximity-based biotinylation
Author(s) -
Natalia Y. Kochanova,
Tamás Schauer,
Grusha Primal Mathias,
A. Lukacs,
Andreas Schmidt,
Andrew Flatley,
Aloys Schepers,
Andreas W. Thomae,
Axel Imhof
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
nucleic acids research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 9.008
H-Index - 537
eISSN - 1362-4954
pISSN - 0305-1048
DOI - 10.1093/nar/gkaa145
Subject(s) - biology , biotinylation , interphase , genetics , evolutionary biology , computational biology , microbiology and biotechnology
During interphase centromeres often coalesce into a small number of chromocenters, which can be visualized as distinct, DAPI dense nuclear domains. Intact chromocenters play a major role in maintaining genome stability as they stabilize the transcriptionally silent state of repetitive DNA while ensuring centromere function. Despite its biological importance, relatively little is known about the molecular composition of the chromocenter or the processes that mediate chromocenter formation and maintenance. To provide a deeper molecular insight into the composition of the chromocenter and to demonstrate the usefulness of proximity-based biotinylation as a tool to investigate those questions, we performed super resolution microscopy and proximity-based biotinylation experiments of three distinct proteins associated with the chromocenter in Drosophila. Our work revealed an intricate internal architecture of the chromocenter suggesting a complex multilayered structure of this intranuclear domain.