冷冻电镜技术的发展推动染色质高级结构的研究

The Development of Cryo-EM Technology Accelerates the Higher-order Structural Study of Chromatin Fiber

染色质的结构及动态变化在基因转录及表观遗传调控中起了关键作用,但对于30 nm染色质纤维(通常认为是基因组DNA的二级结构)的高级结构组成以及细胞体内是否存在30 nm染色质的组织形式一直存在较大争议。近年来,冷冻电镜三维重构技术发展迅速,为研究30 nm染色质纤维高级结构提供了一个良好的工具,并起了较大的推动作用。该文介绍了本领域相关的一些研究进展。

The dynamics of chromatin fiber play a critical role in gene expression and epigenetic regulation.Nevertheless, the higher order structure of 30 nm chromatin fiber, typically regarded as the secondary structure of DNA, and its existence in nucleus have been remained controversial for decades. Recently, tremendous advances have been made in the cryo-electron microscopy （cryo-EM） 3-D reconstruction technology, which provides an indispensible tool for the higher order structural study of 30 nm chromatin fiber and accelerates this process. Here we reviewed some progresses made in this field.