Nuclear body movement is determined by chromatin accessibility and dynamics.
Promyelocytic leukemia (PML) and Cajal bodies are mobile subnuclear organelles, which are involved in activities like RNA processing, transcriptional regulation, and antiviral defense. A key parameter in understanding their biological functions is their mobility. The diffusion properties of PML and Cajal bodies were compared with a biochemically inactive body formed by aggregates of murine Mx1 by using single-particle tracking methods. The artificial Mx1-yellow fluorescent protein body showed a very similar mobility compared with PML and Cajal bodies. The data are described quantitatively by a mechanism of nuclear body movement consisting of two components: diffusion of the body within a chromatin corral and its translocation resulting from chromatin diffusion. This finding suggests that the body mobility reflects the dynamics and accessibility of the chromatin environment, which might target bodies to specific nuclear subcompartments where they exert their biological function.
Division of Molecular Genetics, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Sabine M
SM
Görisch
Malte
M
Wachsmuth
Carina
C
Ittrich
Christian P
CP
Bacher
Karsten
K
Rippe
Peter
P
Lichter
D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000502:physiology*; D020541:Coiled Bodies / Q000502:physiology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D000071156:Promyelocytic Leukemia Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology*; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins
D002843:Chromatin; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D000071156:Promyelocytic Leukemia Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C070576:PML protein, human; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate