Chromatin, NCMIR, UC San Diego and Salk Institute for Biological Sciences (IMAGE)
Caption
Chromatin structure determines the function of the human genome. To visualize chromatin of intact cells, a method called ChromEMT labels DNA and paints a metal dust over chromatin. In the composite image above, a black-and-white electron micrograph of a cell nucleus is half stained by ChromEMT. The stained nucleus is then imaged by electron microscopy to generate a 3D volume that reveals chromatin structure and organization. The circular magnified image shows ChromEMT stained chromatin (dark structures) overlapping with a contour map of chromatin density (blue-low, green-medium, red-high density). Analysis reveals that chromatin is organized as 5 to 24 nm diameter polymer chains that pack in wide distribution of density in interphase resting cells, but uniform density in mitotic cells. Two models of nucleosome orientations in the chromatin chain are shown at bottom right.
Credit
Horng D. Ou, Salk Institute.
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