The new paradigm: integrating genomic function and nuclear architecture.
A new view of the cell nucleus is emerging based on the functional dynamics of nuclear architecture. The striking structural preservation of a variety of genomic processes on the nuclear matrix provides an important approach for correlating nuclear form and function. In situ labeling coupled with three-dimensional microscopy and computer imaging techniques shows that DNA replication and transcription sites are organized into higher-order units, or "zones," in the cell nucleus. The dynamic interplay and "re-zoning" of replication and transcription regions during the cell cycle may form the structural basis for the elaborate global coordination of replicational and transcriptional programs in the mammalian cell.
Berezney
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Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo 14260, USA. berezney@acsu.buffalo.edu
Wei
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D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D004261:DNA Replication; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D015530:Nuclear Matrix / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic