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Nuclear Architecture

  • Chapter
Genomic Imprinting

Part of the book series: Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation ((RESULTS,volume 25))

Abstract

Many important examples of epigenetic gene regulation involve interactions between loci on separate chromosomes. In this chapter we discuss the ways in which such interactions depend on the large scale structural context of the nucleus. Chromosomes are organized in a highly defined arrangement within the nucleus, as evidenced from a large number of structural studies in many different organisms (reviewed by Comings 1980; Marshall et al. 1997a). As a result of this organization, a particular genomic locus will tend to occupy a particular and reproducible spatial region within the nucleus. It has been demonstrated that interphase chromatin does not diffuse significantly over spatial scales larger than about 0.5 μm (Abney et al. 1997; Marshall et al. 1997b), so the only way that two loci could physically interact is if their positions within the nucleus are within 1 μm of each other. The relative proximity of any two loci, and hence their ability to interact with each other, is determined entirely by the nuclear architecture. Loci with similar positions in the nucleus will be able to interact. Indeed, their interactions will be facilitated because they will be maintained in close proximity throughout interphase, providing more opportunities to interact than if each was free to diffuse all throughout the nucleus. On the other hand, loci whose positions within the nucleus are far apart, will be prevented from interacting because they will never come into physical contact. Viewed in this way, the distance between two loci in the nucleus, as determined by the overall architectural arrangement of chromosomes, determines the relative concentration of the two loci. Thus, the large-scale three-dimensional structure of the nucleus is expected to exert a direct and powerful influence on which interactions between loci can occur.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA

    Wallace F. Marshall & John W. Sedat

  2. Dept. of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Wallace F. Marshall & John W. Sedat

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  1. Wallace F. Marshall
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  2. John W. Sedat
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  1. Dept. of Animal Development and Genetics, University of Uppsala, Norbyvägen 18 A, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden

    Rolf Ohlsson

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© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Marshall, W.F., Sedat, J.W. (1999). Nuclear Architecture. In: Ohlsson, R. (eds) Genomic Imprinting. Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation, vol 25. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69111-2_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69111-2_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-21956-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69111-2

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