Knowing where all the genes and control elements are at a given moment will help us understand the molecular mechanisms that control and maintain their expression.
- Ernest Laue
Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology used a combination of imaging and up to 100,000 measurements of where different parts of the DNA are close to each other to examine the genome in a mouse embryonic stem cell. Stem cells are ‘master cells’, which can develop – or ‘differentiate’ – into almost any type of cell within the body.
Most people are familiar with the well-known ‘X’ shape of chromosomes, but in fact chromosomes only take on this shape when the cell divides. Using their new approach, the researchers have now been able to determine the structures of active chromosomes inside the cell, and how they interact with each other to form an intact genome. This is important because knowledge of the way DNA folds inside the cell allows scientists to study how specific genes, and the DNA regions that control them, interact with each other. The genome’s structure controls when and how strongly genes – particular regions of the DNA – are switched ‘on’ or ‘off’. This plays a critical role in the development of organisms and also, when it goes awry, in disease.
The researchers have illustrated the structure in accompanying videos, which show the intact genome from one particular mouse embryonic stem cell.
Watch the videos and read the full story
Image: 3D genome from individual mouse stem cell
Credit: University of Cambridge/MRC Laboratory of Molecular Medicine
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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