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Stein J, Ericsson M, Nofal M, Magni L, Aufmkolk S, McMillan RB, Breimann L, Herlihy CP, Lee SD, Willemin A, Wohlmann J, Arguedas-Jimenez L, Yin P, Pombo A, Church GM, Wu CK. Cryosectioning-enabled super-resolution microscopy for studying nuclear architecture at the single protein level. bioRxiv 2024:2024.02.05.576943. [PMID: 38370628 PMCID: PMC10871237 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.05.576943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
DNA-PAINT combined with total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy enables the highest localization precisions, down to single nanometers in thin biological samples, due to TIRF's unique method for optical sectioning and attaining high contrast. However, most cellular targets elude the accessible TIRF range close to the cover glass and thus require alternative imaging conditions, affecting resolution and image quality. Here, we address this limitation by applying ultrathin physical cryosectioning in combination with DNA-PAINT. With "tomographic & kinetically-enhanced" DNA-PAINT (tokPAINT), we demonstrate the imaging of nuclear proteins with sub-3 nanometer localization precision, advancing the quantitative study of nuclear organization within fixed cells and mouse tissues at the level of single antibodies. We believe that ultrathin sectioning combined with the versatility and multiplexing capabilities of DNA-PAINT will be a powerful addition to the toolbox of quantitative DNA-based super-resolution microscopy in intracellular structural analyses of proteins, RNA and DNA in situ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Stein
- Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Maria Ericsson
- Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michel Nofal
- Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lorenzo Magni
- Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sarah Aufmkolk
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ryan B. McMillan
- Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Laura Breimann
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - S. Dean Lee
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andréa Willemin
- Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB), Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, Berlin, Germany
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute for Biology, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jens Wohlmann
- Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Laura Arguedas-Jimenez
- Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB), Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, Berlin, Germany
| | - Peng Yin
- Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ana Pombo
- Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB), Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, Berlin, Germany
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute for Biology, Berlin, Germany
| | - George M. Church
- Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Chao-Kng Wu
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Willemin A, Szabó D, Pombo A. Epigenetic regulatory layers in the 3D nucleus. Mol Cell 2024; 84:415-428. [PMID: 38242127 PMCID: PMC10872226 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.12.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
Nearly 7 decades have elapsed since Francis Crick introduced the central dogma of molecular biology, as part of his ideas on protein synthesis, setting the fundamental rules of sequence information transfer from DNA to RNAs and proteins. We have since learned that gene expression is finely tuned in time and space, due to the activities of RNAs and proteins on regulatory DNA elements, and through cell-type-specific three-dimensional conformations of the genome. Here, we review major advances in genome biology and discuss a set of ideas on gene regulation and highlight how various biomolecular assemblies lead to the formation of structural and regulatory features within the nucleus, with roles in transcriptional control. We conclude by suggesting further developments that will help capture the complex, dynamic, and often spatially restricted events that govern gene expression in mammalian cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andréa Willemin
- Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB), Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, Berlin, Germany; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute for Biology, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Dominik Szabó
- Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB), Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, Berlin, Germany; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute for Biology, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ana Pombo
- Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB), Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, Berlin, Germany; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute for Biology, Berlin, Germany.
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Willemin A, Lopez-Delisle L, Bolt CC, Gadolini ML, Duboule D, Rodriguez-Carballo E. Induction of a chromatin boundary in vivo upon insertion of a TAD border. PLoS Genet 2021; 17:e1009691. [PMID: 34292939 PMCID: PMC8330945 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Mammalian genomes are partitioned into sub-megabase to megabase-sized units of preferential interactions called topologically associating domains or TADs, which are likely important for the proper implementation of gene regulatory processes. These domains provide structural scaffolds for distant cis regulatory elements to interact with their target genes within the three-dimensional nuclear space and architectural proteins such as CTCF as well as the cohesin complex participate in the formation of the boundaries between them. However, the importance of the genomic context in providing a given DNA sequence the capacity to act as a boundary element remains to be fully investigated. To address this question, we randomly relocated a topological boundary functionally associated with the mouse HoxD gene cluster and show that it can indeed act similarly outside its initial genomic context. In particular, the relocated DNA segment recruited the required architectural proteins and induced a significant depletion of contacts between genomic regions located across the integration site. The host chromatin landscape was re-organized, with the splitting of the TAD wherein the boundary had integrated. These results provide evidence that topological boundaries can function independently of their site of origin, under physiological conditions during mouse development. During development, enhancer sequences tightly regulate the spatio-temporal expression of target genes often located hundreds of kilobases away. This complex process is made possible by the folding of chromatin into domains, which are separated from one another by specific genomic regions referred to as boundaries. In order to understand whether such boundary sequences require their particular genomic contexts to achieve their isolating effect, we analyzed the impact of introducing one such boundary, taken from the HoxD locus, into a distinct topological domain. We show that this ectopic boundary splits the host domain into two sub-domains and affects the expression levels of a neighboring gene. We conclude that this sequence can work independently from its genomic context and thus carries all the information necessary to act as a boundary element.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andréa Willemin
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Lucille Lopez-Delisle
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Christopher Chase Bolt
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marie-Laure Gadolini
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Denis Duboule
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Collège de France, Paris, France
- * E-mail: (DD); (ER-C)
| | - Eddie Rodriguez-Carballo
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- * E-mail: (DD); (ER-C)
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Rodríguez-Carballo E, Lopez-Delisle L, Willemin A, Beccari L, Gitto S, Mascrez B, Duboule D. Chromatin topology and the timing of enhancer function at the HoxD locus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:31231-31241. [PMID: 33229569 PMCID: PMC7733857 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2015083117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The HoxD gene cluster is critical for proper limb formation in tetrapods. In the emerging limb buds, different subgroups of Hoxd genes respond first to a proximal regulatory signal, then to a distal signal that organizes digits. These two regulations are exclusive from one another and emanate from two distinct topologically associating domains (TADs) flanking HoxD, both containing a range of appropriate enhancer sequences. The telomeric TAD (T-DOM) contains several enhancers active in presumptive forearm cells and is divided into two sub-TADs separated by a CTCF-rich boundary, which defines two regulatory submodules. To understand the importance of this particular regulatory topology to control Hoxd gene transcription in time and space, we either deleted or inverted this sub-TAD boundary, eliminated the CTCF binding sites, or inverted the entire T-DOM to exchange the respective positions of the two sub-TADs. The effects of such perturbations on the transcriptional regulation of Hoxd genes illustrate the requirement of this regulatory topology for the precise timing of gene activation. However, the spatial distribution of transcripts was eventually resumed, showing that the presence of enhancer sequences, rather than either their exact topology or a particular chromatin architecture, is the key factor. We also show that the affinity of enhancers to find their natural target genes can overcome the presence of both a strong TAD border and an unfavorable orientation of CTCF sites.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lucille Lopez-Delisle
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Andréa Willemin
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Leonardo Beccari
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sandra Gitto
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Bénédicte Mascrez
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Denis Duboule
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland;
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Collège de France, 75005 Paris, France
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de Brux J, Trévoux R, Willemin A. [Breast cancer diagnosed in the pre-clinical stage with the phenomena of histological regression (author's transl)]. J Gynecol Obstet Biol Reprod (Paris) 1978; 7:945-51. [PMID: 739124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The discovery of carcinomatous cells in a discharge from a breast, without any other clinical, mammographic or thermographic sign, allowed the removal of a carcinoma in its pre-clinical stage. The histological study in a series of cuts showed a carcinoma that was still intraductal and which showed signs of cellular regression accompanied by marked peri-canalicular sclerosis associated with inflammatory infiltration. This observation allows commentaries to be made concerning the immunological process that goes with carcinoma in its intra-epithelial stage and permits the possibility of predicting an advance in the understanding and treatment of carcinomata which should be diagnosed very early.
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6
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Willemin A. [X-rays of the breast. Normal structure and benign dystrophy]. Rev Prat 1975; 25:2897-904. [PMID: 1166241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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Willemin A. [Radiological aspects of breast carcinoma]. Rev Fr Gynecol Obstet 1973; 68:389-400. [PMID: 17474648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
X-ray patterns of breast carcinoma reflect tissue alterations and stromal reactions. These two factors are diversely represented within every tumor and, consequently, three types of picture can be observed: 75 per cent of them are complete, complex, cockarde-shaped; 20 per cent are incomplete, sketchy, hence ambiguous; the remaining 5 per cent show a totally benignant decidedly misleading image. In these difficult cases, erroneous clinical as well as radiological diagnosis is unavoidable (a non reductible rate of about 1 per cent), whenever clinical signs are unable to palliate the unreliable X-ray picture.
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Willemin A. [Mammography]. Cah Med 1971; 12:307-8. [PMID: 5582109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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9
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Willemin A. [Mammography. Characteristics of malignant pictures]. Presse Med (1893) 1967; 75:2457-8. [PMID: 6074560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
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Willemin A. [Elements of prognosis contributed by mammography]. Cah Coll Med Hop Paris 1967; 8:723-5. [PMID: 5619597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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Willemin A. [Multiple mammary nodules]. Cah Coll Med Hop Paris 1967; 8:721-2. [PMID: 5619596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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12
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Willemin A. [Radiographic analysis of the normal breast]. Cah Coll Med Hop Paris 1967; 8:718-20. [PMID: 5619594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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13
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Scott WP, Willemin A, Betsch C. Fundamentals of soft tissue radiography (mammography). Radiol Clin North Am 1967; 5:169-80. [PMID: 6019917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
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14
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Willemin A. [Evaluation of the capacity to breast feed by mammography]. Maternite 1965; 14:273-5. [PMID: 5850275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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15
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Willemin A. [The diagnosis of cancer by mammography]. Maternite 1965; 14:276-7. [PMID: 5850276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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