Harvard researchers develop technique to create 3D images of human chromosomes

A team of researchers from Harvard University have developed a new imaging technology for visualizing organization of chromatin, a substance within a chromosome, across multiple scales in single cells with “high genomic throughput”. Led by Xiaowei Zhuang, the team has created high-resolution 3D images of the same determining how DNA structure influences cell behaviour in either maintaining proper function or possibly causing disease.

Image credit: Su et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.07.032.

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'Important to determine 3D organisation' 

For the purpose of research published in journal Cell, the team started building a chromosomal map from wide lens images of all 46 chromosomes, including close-ups on one section of one chromosome by using new high-resolution 3D imaging method. Additionally, the team made a visual representation of about 2,000 chromatic loci per cell enabling them to firm a high-resolution image of how the chromosome structure looked like in its endemic habitat. They also made visual representations of transcription activity (when RNA replicates genetic material from DNA) and nuclear structures like nucleoli and nuclear speckles.

“It’s quite important to determine the 3D organization to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the organization and to also understand how this organization regulates genome function,” Zhuang, who is a researcher in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and the Department of Physics at Harvard Universit said.

These 3D maps of the genome enabled them to analyze how the cell structure shifts over time. In addition, it also depicted how those territorial movements help or hurt cell division and replication in the process of creation of a new cell. In the aftermath of their observation, the researchers concluded that areas with lots of genes flock together in similar areas on any chromosome. However, areas which have lesser genetic material only come together if they share the same chromosome.

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Representative Image:  Pixabey