Speaker
Description
In the nucleus, essential biological processes rely on proteins diffusing through and interacting with a complex network of nucleic acid polymers. To better understand this dynamic interplay requires an advanced imaging platform that simultaneously tracks single-molecule dynamics and the local chromatin environment in live cells. In this talk, I will present our work that combines super-resolution imaging, novel fluorescent probes, and biophysical modeling and reveal that as chromatin density increases, nucleosomes exhibit distinct diffusion and packing behaviors, while the viscoelasticity and accessibility of the interchromatin space remain unchanged. Disrupting nuclear functions alters nucleosome dynamics in a manner dependent on both local chromatin density and relative location within the nucleus. Our findings support a model in which transcription stabilizes nucleosomes locally while facilitating the free exchange of nuclear proteins. Furthermore, we show that nuclear heterogeneity arises from both active and passive mechanisms, underscoring the importance of considering diverse organizational principles when modeling different chromatin environments.
| Keyword-1 | Nuclear organization |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | light sheet microscopy |
