ON THE COVER

Vol. 70 No.1 Murch 2005

Technical note

Radial distribution of interphase chromosome territories in the human lymphocyte nucleus is highly correlated with their gene densities.

     The individual chromosomes in the interphase nucleus are discretely observed and highly compartmentalized called “chromosome territories” that are visualized by threedimensional florescence in situ hybridization (3D-FISH) technique using the chromosome specific DNA painting probes. Recent studies indicated that the radial position of a given “chromosome territory” is highly correlated with its gene density, its size and replication timing. For example, human chromosomes 18 and 19 territories, which are almost same size (76.1 Mb and 63.8 Mb, respectively), show a different position in the lymphoblastoid cell nuclei; the gene-poor, late replicating chromosome 18 territory (4.2 genes/Mb) is preferentially located at the nuclear periphery, while the gene-rich and early replicating chromosome 19 territory (23.0 genes/Mb) is found in the nuclear center.

     The lower figure showed a partial gallery images from a human lymphoblastoid cell nucleus after 3D-FISH with chromosome 18 (red) and chromosome 19 (green) paintprobes. Nuclear DNA counterstain is shown in blue (scale bar indicates 5µm). Light optical serial sections with the z-axial interval of 200nm were recorded by confocal microscopy (Zeiss LSM510meta) and used for 3D reconstruction and image analyses. This topology has been quantitatively evaluated by the specific program and demonstrated the evolutionary conservation from the primate species as well as chicken cells. The functional relevance of the radial positioning has been discussed in various aspects in relation to the higher order nuclear architecture (See Tanabe H., Muller S., Neusser M., von Hase J., Calcagno E., CremerM., Solovei., Cremer C., and Cremer T. 2002: Proc Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 99: 4424~4429).

    (Hideyuki Tanabe, Department of Biosystems Science, Schooi of Advanced Sciences, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai). Shonan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan)

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ON THE COVER

Vol. 70 No.1 Murch 2005
Technical note

Radial distribution of interphase chromosome territories in the human lymphocyte nucleus is highly correlated with their gene densities. The individual chromosomes in the interphase nucleus are discretely observed and highly compartmentalized called “chromosome territories” that are visualized by threedimensional florescence in situ hybridization (3D-FISH) technique using the chromosome specific DNA painting probes. Recent studies indicated that the radial position of a given “chromosome territory” is highly correlated with its gene density, its size and replication timing. For example, human chromosomes 18 and 19 territories, which are almost same size (76.1 Mb and 63.8 Mb, respectively), show a different position in the lymphoblastoid cell nuclei; the gene-poor, late replicating chromosome 18 territory (4.2 genes/Mb) is preferentially located at the nuclear periphery, while the gene-rich and early replicating chromosome 19 territory (23.0 genes/Mb) is found in the nuclear center. The lower figure showed a partial gallery images from a human lymphoblastoid cell nucleus after 3D-FISH with chromosome 18 (red) and chromosome 19 (green) paintprobes. Nuclear DNA counterstain is shown in blue (scale bar indicates 5µm). Light optical serial sections with the z-axial interval of 200nm were recorded by confocal microscopy (Zeiss LSM510meta) and used for 3D reconstruction and image analyses. This topology has been quantitatively evaluated by the specific program and demonstrated the evolutionary conservation from the primate species as well as chicken cells. The functional relevance of the radial positioning has been discussed in various aspects in relation to the higher order nuclear architecture (See Tanabe H., Muller S., Neusser M., von Hase J., Calcagno E., CremerM., Solovei., Cremer C., and Cremer T. 2002: Proc Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 99: 4424~4429). (Hideyuki Tanabe, Department of Biosystems Science, Schooi of Advanced Sciences, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai). Shonan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan)
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