The intimate relationships between genome structure and function direct efforts toward deciphering three-dimensional chromatin organization within the interphase nuclei at different genomic length scales. For decades, major insights into chromatin structure at the level of large-scale euchromatin and heterochromatin compartments, chromosome territories, and subchromosomal regions resulted from the evolution of light microscopy and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Studies of nanoscale nucleosomal chromatin organization benefited from a variety of electron microscopy techniques. Recent breakthroughs in the investigation of mesoscale chromatin structures have emerged from chromatin conformation capture methods (C-methods). Chromatin has been found to form hierarchical domains with high frequency of local interactions from loop domains to topologically associating domains and compartments. During the last decade, advances in super-resolution light microscopy made these levels of chromatin folding amenable for microscopic examination. Here we are reviewing recent developments in FISH-based approaches for detection, quantitative measurements, and validation of contact chromatin domains deduced from C-based data. We specifically focus on the design and application of Oligopaint probes, which marked the latest progress in the imaging of chromatin domains. Vivid examples of chromatin domain FISH-visualization by means of conventional, super-resolution light and electron microscopy in different model organisms are provided.

Original languageEnglish
Article number753097
Number of pages21
JournalFrontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
Volume9
DOIs
StateE-pub ahead of print - 3 Nov 2021

    Scopus subject areas

  • Cell Biology
  • Developmental Biology

    Research areas

  • chromatin domains, chromatin imaging, FISH probes, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), fluorescent microscopy, genome compartments, Oligopaints, topologically associating domains, OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PROBES, MOLECULE-LABELED NUCLEOTIDES, 3D GENOME ARCHITECTURE, IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION, COMPUTATIONAL METHODS, INTERPHASE CHROMOSOMES, HI-C, DNA PROBES, CHROMOSOME CONFORMATION CAPTURE, 3-DIMENSIONAL ORGANIZATION

ID: 88907241