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Mobility of multi-subunit complexes in the nucleus: accessibility and dynamics of chromatin subcompartments

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Abstract

The cell nucleus contains a number of mobile subnuclear organelles involved in RNA processing, transcriptional regulation and antiviral defence like Cajal and promyelocytic leukaemia (PML) bodies. It remains an open question how these bodies translocate to specific nuclear regions within the nucleus to exert their biological function. The mobility and localisation of macromolecules in the nucleus are closely related to the dynamic organisation and accessibility of chromatin. This relation has been studied with biologically inert fluorescent particles like dextrans, polystyrene nanospheres and inactive protein crystals formed by the Mx1-YFP fusion protein or other ectopically expressed proteins like vimentin. As reviewed here, properties of the chromatin environment can be identified from these experiments that determine the mobility of Cajal and PML bodies and other supramolecular complexes.

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Abbreviations

D:

Diffusion coefficient

FISH:

Fluorescence in situ hybridisation

ICD:

Interchromosomal domain

MSD:

Mean square displacement

NLS:

Nuclear localisation sequence

PML:

Promyelocytic leukaemia

SPT:

Single particle tracking

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Acknowledgements

We thank Stephanie Geiger for providing the image in Fig. 1a, Thibaud Jegou for helping with Fig. 7 and Katalin Fejes Tóth, Markus Scheuermann, Alessandro Brero, and Malte Wachsmuth for a critical reading of the manuscript as well as Harald Herrmann, Anje Sporbert, Karsten Richter and Ute Schmidt for fruitful discussions. Our work is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grants Li 406/5-3, Ri 828/5-1) and the Volkswagen Foundation in the program Junior Research Groups at German Universities.

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  1. Sabine M. Görisch

    Present address: Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, 13125, Berlin, Germany

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  1. Division of Molecular Genetics, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Sabine M. Görisch & Peter Lichter

  2. AG Molekulare Biophysik, Kirchhoff-Institut für Physik, Im Neuenheimer Feld 227, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Karsten Rippe

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Görisch, S.M., Lichter, P. & Rippe, K. Mobility of multi-subunit complexes in the nucleus: accessibility and dynamics of chromatin subcompartments. Histochem Cell Biol 123, 217–228 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-005-0752-y

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