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Inner and Outer DNA Loops in Cell Nuclei: Evidence from Pulsed-Field Comet Assay

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Abstract

At higher order levels chromatin is organized into loops, and this looping plays an important role in transcription regulation. In our previous works we investigated the kinetics of DNA loop migration during single cell gel electrophoresis (the comet assay) of nucleoids obtained from lysed cells. It was shown that there are three parts of DNA in nucleoids: DNA in rather small loops which migrate rapidly; DNA in the loops up to ~150 kb, the migration of which is retarded; and larger loops that cannot migrate. Here we applied, for the first time, the pulse-field electrophoresis in the comet assay. Our results show that the first rapid step during the usual comet assay can be attributed to loops on the nucleoid surface while the second slow component represents loops inside the nucleoid.

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This study did not receive any certain grant from financial organs in governmental, commercial, or noncommercial sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine

    M. Chopei, V. Olefirenko, K. Afanasieva & A. Sivolob

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  1. M. Chopei
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  2. V. Olefirenko
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  3. K. Afanasieva
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  4. A. Sivolob
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Correspondence to M. Chopei.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. This article does not contain any studies involving animals or human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Chopei, M., Olefirenko, V., Afanasieva, K. et al. Inner and Outer DNA Loops in Cell Nuclei: Evidence from Pulsed-Field Comet Assay. Cytol. Genet. 56, 313–318 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0095452722040028

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0095452722040028

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