Functional architecture of the cell nucleus: towards comprehensive toponome reference maps of apoptosis

Biochim Biophys Acta. 2008 Nov;1783(11):2080-8. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2008.07.019. Epub 2008 Jul 31.

Abstract

We have recently described the MELC/TIS fluorescence robot technology that is capable of colocalizing at least a hundred different molecular cell components in one cell. The technology reveals new hierarchical properties of protein network organisation, referred to as the toponome, in which topologically confined protein clusters are interlocked within the structural framework of the cell. In this study we have applied MELC/TIS to construct a three-dimensional toponome map of the cell nucleus of a single human hepatocyte undergoing apoptosis. The map reveals six different spatially separated toponome domains in the nuclear interior of one apoptotic cell. In the drive to decipher the apoptosis-specific molecular network on the single cell level, the present toponome map is a first milestone towards the construction of much larger maps addressing hundreds of molecular cell components across the stages of apoptosis.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis / physiology*
  • Cell Nucleus* / chemistry
  • Cell Nucleus* / metabolism
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Hepatocytes* / cytology
  • Hepatocytes* / physiology
  • Humans
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence / methods