scholarly journals Chromatin fibers observed in situ in frozen hydrated sections. Native fiber diameter is not correlated with nucleosome repeat length.

1994 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
C L Woodcock

Chromatin fibers have been observed and measured in frozen hydrated sections of three types of cell (chicken erythrocytes and sperm of Patiria miniata and Thyone briareus) representing an approximately 20-bp range of nucleosomal repeat lengths. For sperm of the starfish P. miniata, it was possible to obtain images of chromatin fibers from cells that were swimming in seawater up to the moment of cryo-immobilization, thus providing a record of the native morphology of the chromatin of these cells. Glutaraldehyde fixation produced no significant changes in the ultrastructure or diameter of chromatin fibers, and fiber diameters observed in cryosections were similar to those recorded after low temperature embedding in Lowicryl K11M. Chromatin fiber diameters measured from cryosections of the three types of nuclei were similar, a striking contrast to the situation for chromatin isolated from these cell types, where a strong positive correlation between diameter and nucleosomal repeat length has been established. The demonstration of chromatin fibers in unfixed whole cells establishes an unequivocal baseline for the study of native chromatin and chromosome architecture. The significant differences between chromatin fibers in nucleo and after isolation supports a previous observation (P. J. Giannasca, R. A. Horowitz, and C. L. Woodcock. 1993. J. Cell Sci. 105:551-561), and suggests that structural studies on isolated material should be interpreted with caution until the changes that accompany chromatin isolation are understood.

Author(s):  
C.L. Woodcock ◽  
R.A. Horowitz ◽  
D.A. Agard

Electron tomography is being used to understand the 3D organization of chromatin in situ. As demonstrated previously, the nuclei of Patiria miniata (starfish) sperm contain particularly well-defined chromatin fibers. These studies are being extended through the analysis of 3D reconstructions of material embedded at low temperature in Lowicryl K11M and contrasted with osmium ammine-B, which preferentially stains nucleic acids. Tilt series of sections were recorded at 150KV, over an angular range of +/−75° and tilt increment of 2.5° using a Philips EM430. Image data were collected directly using a 1024x1024 CCD array with 2x2 binning to give a final pixel size of 1.3nm. Gold beads deposited on the sections were used for alignment, and reconstruction was by weighted back projection. Six volumes totalling 0.48um and containing numerous chromatin fibers have been examined utilizing Voxel View (Vital Images, Fairfield Iowa) software running on a Silicon Graphics Iris 4D workstation.


Author(s):  
B.A. Hamkalo ◽  
S. Narayanswami ◽  
A.P. Kausch

The availability of nonradioactive methods to label nucleic acids an the resultant rapid and greater sensitivity of detection has catapulted the technique of in situ hybridization to become the method of choice to locate of specific DNA and RNA sequences on chromosomes and in whole cells in cytological preparations in many areas of biology. It is being applied to problems of fundamental interest to basic cell and molecular biologists such as the organization of the interphase nucleus in the context of putative functional domains; it is making major contributions to genome mapping efforts; and it is being applied to the analysis of clinical specimens. Although fluorescence detection of nucleic acid hybrids is routinely used, certain questions require greater resolution. For example, very closely linked sequences may not be separable using fluorescence; the precise location of sequences with respect to chromosome structures may be below the resolution of light microscopy(LM); and the relative positions of sequences on very small chromosomes may not be feasible.


Author(s):  
C.L. Woodcock ◽  
R.A. Horowitz ◽  
D. P. Bazett-Jones ◽  
A.L. Olins

In the eukaryotic nucleus, DNA is packaged into nucleosomes, and the nucleosome chain folded into ‘30nm’ chromatin fibers. A number of different model structures, each with a specific location of nucleosomal and linker DNA have been proposed for the arrangment of nucleosomes within the fiber. We are exploring two strategies for testing the models by localizing DNA within chromatin: electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI) of phosphorus atoms, and osmium ammine (OSAM) staining, a method based on the DNA-specific Feulgen reaction.Sperm were obtained from Patiria miniata (starfish), fixed in 2% GA in 150mM NaCl, 15mM HEPES pH 8.0, and embedded In Lowiciyl K11M at -55C. For OSAM staining, sections 100nm to 150nm thick were treated as described, and stereo pairs recorded at 40,000x and 100KV using a Philips CM10 TEM. (The new osmium ammine-B stain is available from Polysciences Inc). Uranyl-lead (U-Pb) staining was as described. ESI was carried out on unstained, very thin (<30 nm) beveled sections at 80KV using a Zeiss EM902. Images were recorded at 20,000x and 30,000x with median energy losses of 110eV, 120eV and 160eV, and a window of 20eV.


2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 1473-1476
Author(s):  
Nataliya Matolinets ◽  
Helen Sklyarova ◽  
Eugene Sklyarov ◽  
Andrii Netliukh

Introduction: Polytrauma patients have high risk of shock, septic complications and death during few years of follow-up. In recent years a lot of attention is paid to gaseous transmitters, among which are nitrogen oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). It is known that the rise of NO and its metabolites levels occurs during the acute period of polytrauma. Nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide are produced in different cell types, among which are lymphocytes. The aim: To investigate the levels of NO, NOS, iNOS, еNOS, H2S in lymphocytes lysate in patients at the moment of hospitalization and 24 hours after trauma. Materials and methods: We investigated the levels of NO, NO-synthase, inducible NO-synthase, endothelial NO-synthase, H2S in lymphocytes lysate in patients at the moment of hospitalization and 24 hours after trauma. Results: The study included 20 patients with polytrauma who were treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Lviv Emergency Hospital. Tissue injury was associated with an increased production of NO, NOS, iNOS, еNOS during the acute period of polytrauma. At the same time, the level of H2S decreased by the end of the first day of traumatic injury. Conclusions: In acute period of polytrauma, significant increasing of iNOS and eNOS occurs with percentage prevalence of iNOS over eNOS on the background of H2S decreasing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dvir Gur ◽  
Emily J. Bain ◽  
Kory R. Johnson ◽  
Andy J. Aman ◽  
H. Amalia Pasoili ◽  
...  

AbstractSkin color patterns are ubiquitous in nature, impact social behavior, predator avoidance, and protection from ultraviolet irradiation. A leading model system for vertebrate skin patterning is the zebrafish; its alternating blue stripes and yellow interstripes depend on light-reflecting cells called iridophores. It was suggested that the zebrafish’s color pattern arises from a single type of iridophore migrating differentially to stripes and interstripes. However, here we find that iridophores do not migrate between stripes and interstripes but instead differentiate and proliferate in-place, based on their micro-environment. RNA-sequencing analysis further reveals that stripe and interstripe iridophores have different transcriptomic states, while cryogenic-scanning-electron-microscopy and micro-X-ray diffraction identify different crystal-arrays architectures, indicating that stripe and interstripe iridophores are different cell types. Based on these results, we present an alternative model of skin patterning in zebrafish in which distinct iridophore crystallotypes containing specialized, physiologically responsive, organelles arise in stripe and interstripe by in-situ differentiation.


1998 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 1111-1115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalman Kovacs ◽  
Eva Horvath ◽  
Lucia Stefaneanu ◽  
Juan Bilbao ◽  
William Singer ◽  
...  

✓ The authors report on the morphological features of a pituitary adenoma that produced growth hormone (GH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). This hormone combination produced by a single adenoma is extremely rare; a review of the available literature showed that only one previous case has been published. The tumor, which was removed from a 62-year-old man with acromegaly, was studied by histological and immunocytochemical analyses, transmission electron microscopy, immunoelectron microscopy, and in situ hybridization. When the authors used light microscopy, the tumor appeared to be a bimorphous mixed pituitary adenoma composed of two separate cell types: one cell population synthesized GH and the other ACTH. The cytogenesis of pituitary adenomas that produce more than one hormone is obscure. It may be that two separate cells—one somatotroph and one corticotroph—transformed into neoplastic cells, or that the adenoma arose in a common stem cell that differentiated into two separate cell types. In this case immunoelectron microscopy conclusively demonstrated ACTH in the secretory granules of several somatotrophs. This was associated with a change in the morphological characteristics of secretory granules. Thus it is possible that the tumor was originally a somatotropic adenoma that began to produce ACTH as a result of mutations that occurred during tumor progression.


1998 ◽  
Vol 519 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Bergogne ◽  
S. Fennouh ◽  
J. Livage ◽  
C. Roux

AbstractBioencapsulation in sol-gel materials has been widely studied during the past decade. Trapped species appear to retain their bioactivity in the porous silica matrix. Small analytes can diffuse through the pores allowing bioreactions to be performed in-situ, inside the sol-gel glass. A wide range of biomolecules and micro-organisms have been encapsulated. The catalytic activity of enzymes is used for the realization of biosensors or bioreactors. Antibody-antigen recognition has been shown to be feasible within sol-gel matrices. Trapped antibodies bind specifically the corresponding haptens and can be used for the detection of traces of chemicals. Even whole cells are now encapsulated without any alteration of their cellular organization. They can be used for the production of chemicals or as antigens for immunoassays.


mBio ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle C. Costa ◽  
Megan Bergkessel ◽  
Scott Saunders ◽  
Jonas Korlach ◽  
Dianne K. Newman

ABSTRACTDiverse bacteria, including severalPseudomonasspecies, produce a class of redox-active metabolites called phenazines that impact different cell types in nature and disease. Phenazines can affect microbial communities in both positive and negative ways, where their presence is correlated with decreased species richness and diversity. However, little is known about how the concentration of phenazines is modulatedin situand what this may mean for the fitness of members of the community. Through culturing of phenazine-degrading mycobacteria, genome sequencing, comparative genomics, and molecular analysis, we identified several conserved genes that are important for the degradation of threePseudomonas-derived phenazines: phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA), phenazine-1-carboxamide (PCN), and pyocyanin (PYO). PCA can be used as the sole carbon source for growth by these organisms. Deletion of several genes inMycobacterium fortuitumabolishes the degradation phenotype, and expression of two genes in a heterologous host confers the ability to degrade PCN and PYO. In cocultures with phenazine producers, phenazine degraders alter the abundance of different phenazine types. Not only does degradation support mycobacterial catabolism, but also it provides protection to bacteria that would otherwise be inhibited by the toxicity of PYO. Collectively, these results serve as a reminder that microbial metabolites can be actively modified and degraded and that these turnover processes must be considered when the fate and impact of such compounds in any environment are being assessed.IMPORTANCEPhenazine production byPseudomonasspp. can shape microbial communities in a variety of environments ranging from the cystic fibrosis lung to the rhizosphere of dryland crops. For example, in the rhizosphere, phenazines can protect plants from infection by pathogenic fungi. The redox activity of phenazines underpins their antibiotic activity, as well as providing pseudomonads with important physiological benefits. Our discovery that soil mycobacteria can catabolize phenazines and thereby protect other organisms against phenazine toxicity suggests that phenazine degradation may influence turnoverin situ. The identification of genes involved in the degradation of phenazines opens the door to monitoring turnover in diverse environments, an essential process to consider when one is attempting to understand or control communities influenced by phenazines.


1998 ◽  
Vol 111 (12) ◽  
pp. 1707-1715
Author(s):  
A. Bermudez ◽  
S. Bartolome ◽  
J.R. Daban

To examine the internal structure of chromatin fibers, we have developed procedures for partial denaturation of small chromatin fragments (8–30 nucleosomes) from chicken erythrocytes. Electron micrographs of samples prepared under conditions that cause nucleosome dissociation show rods and loops projecting from short compact fibers fixed by glutaraldehyde in 1.7 mM Mg2+. According to previous studies in our laboratory, these images correspond to the top view of partially denatured fibers. Our results indicate that rods and loops consist of extended duplex DNA of different lengths. DNA in loops is nicked, as demonstrated by experiments performed in the presence of high concentrations of ethidium bromide. Length measurements indicate that the radial projections of DNA are produced by unfolding of nucleosomal units. Loops are formed by DNA from denatured nucleosomes in internal positions of the fiber; DNA from denatured nucleosomes in terminal positions form rods. Our micrographs show clearly a radial distribution of DNA loops and rods projecting from fibers. Rods are orthogonal to the surface of the chromatin fragments. Considering that the high ionic strength used in this study (0.8-2.0 M NaCl) neutralizes the electrostatic repulsions between rods and fiber, this observation suggests that rods are extensions of nucleosomes radially organized inside the fiber. The position of the entry points of DNA loops into the fiber could be influenced by constraint on loops, but our results showing that the arc that separates these points in dinucleosome loops is relatively short suggest that consecutive nucleosomes are relatively close to each other in the folded fiber.


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