Multi-scale tracking reveals scale-dependent chromatin dynamics after DNA damage

The dynamic organization of genes inside the nucleus is an important determinant for their function. Using fast DNA tracking microscopy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells and improved analysis of mean-squared displacements, we quantified DNA motion at time scales ranging from 10 ms to minutes and found that following DNA damage, DNA exhibits distinct subdiffusive regimes. In response to double-strand breaks, chromatin is more mobile at large time scales, but, surprisingly, its mobility is reduced at short time scales. This effect is even more pronounced at the site of damage. Such a pattern of dynamics is consistent with a global increase in chromatin persistence length in response to DNA damage. Scale-dependent nuclear exploration is regulated by the Rad51 repair protein, both at the break and throughout of the genome. We propose a model in which stiffening of the damaged ends by the repair complex, combined with global increased stiffness, act like a “needle in a ball of yarn,” enhancing the ability of the break to traverse the chromatin meshwork.

Chromatin mobility after DNA damage is modified to enhance long distance explorations and minimize local resampling

ABSTRACTThe dynamic organization of genes inside the nucleus is an important determinant for their function. Using ultra-fast microscopy in S. cerevisiae cells and improved analysis of mean square displacements, we quantified DNA motion at time scales ranging from 10 milliseconds to minutes and found that following DNA damage, DNA exhibits distinct sub-diffusive regimes. In response to double-strand breaks, chromatin is more mobile at large time scales but, surprisingly, its mobility is dramatically reduced at short time scales. This effect is even more pronounced at the break. Such pattern of dynamics is consistent with a global increase in chromatin persistence length following DNA damage. Scale-dependent nuclear exploration is regulated by the Rad51 repair protein, both at the break and throughout the genome. We propose a model in which stiffening of the damaged ends by the repair complex, combined with global increased stiffness, act like a “needle in a decompacted ball of yarn”, enhancing the ability of the break to traverse the chromatin meshwork.

ChromoShake: a chromosome dynamics simulator reveals that chromatin loops stiffen centromeric chromatin

ChromoShake is a three-dimensional simulator designed to find the thermodynamically favored states for given chromosome geometries. The simulator has been applied to a geometric model based on experimentally determined positions and fluctuations of DNA and the distribution of cohesin and condensin in the budding yeast centromere. Simulations of chromatin in differing initial configurations reveal novel principles for understanding the structure and function of a eukaryotic centromere. The entropic position of DNA loops mirrors their experimental position, consistent with their radial displacement from the spindle axis. The barrel-like distribution of cohesin complexes surrounding the central spindle in metaphase is a consequence of the size of the DNA loops within the pericentromere to which cohesin is bound. Linkage between DNA loops of different centromeres is requisite to recapitulate experimentally determined correlations in DNA motion. The consequences of radial loops and cohesin and condensin binding are to stiffen the DNA along the spindle axis, imparting an active function to the centromere in mitosis.