title: Analysis of chromatin fibers in Hela cells with electron tomography.
abstract: The presence and folding pattern of chromatin in eukaryotic cells remain elusive and controversial. In this study, we prepared ultra-thin sections of Hela cells with three different fixation and sectioning methods, i.e., chemical fixation, high pressure freezing with freeze substitution, and cryo-ultramicrotomy with SEM-FIB (focused ion beam), and analyzed in vivo architecture of chromatin fibers in Hela nuclei with electron tomography technology. The results suggest that the chromatin fibers in eukaryotic Hela cells are likely organized in an architecture with a diameter of about 30 nm.
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China.
authors.forename: Xiaomin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China.
authors.forename: Hongli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Center for Biological Imaging, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China.
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Center for Biological Imaging, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhu
keywords: Chemical fixation; Chromatin fiber; Cryo-ultramicrotomy; DualBeam-FIB; Electron tomography; Hela cell; High-pressure freezing