Cajal body dynamics and association with chromatin are ATP-dependent.
Cajal bodies (CBs) are nuclear organelles that contain factors required for splicing, ribosome biogenesis and transcription. Our previous analysis in living cells showed that CBs are dynamic structures. Here, we show that CB mobility is described by anomalous diffusion and that bodies alternate between association with chromatin and diffusion within the interchromatin space. CB mobility increases after ATP depletion and inhibition of transcription, suggesting that the association of CB and chromatin requires ATP and active transcription. This behaviour is fundamentally different from the ATP-dependent mobility observed for chromatin and suggests that a novel mechanism governs CB, and possibly other, nuclear body dynamics.
Platani
Melpomeni
M
School of Life Sciences, Division of Gene Regulation and Expression, University of Dundee, Medical Sciences Institute/Wellcome Trust Biocentre, Dow street, Dundee, DD1 5EH, Scotland.
Goldberg
Ilya
I
Lamond
Angus I
AI
Swedlow
Jason R
JR
D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000502:physiology*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000502:physiology*; D020541:Coiled Bodies / Q000502:physiology*; D004058:Diffusion; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D002843:Chromatin; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate