Quantitative FLIM-FRET Microscopy to Monitor Nanoscale Chromatin Compaction In Vivo Reveals Structural Roles of Condensin Complexes
Abstract
How metazoan genomes are structured at the nanoscale in living cells and tissues remains unknown. Here, we adapted a quantitative FRET (Förster resonance energy transfer)-based fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) approach to assay nanoscale chromatin compaction in living organisms. Caenorhabditis elegans was chosen as a model system. By measuring FRET between histone-tagged fluorescent proteins, we visualized distinct chromosomal regions and quantified the different levels of nanoscale compaction in meiotic cells. Using RNAi and repetitive extrachromosomal array approaches, we defined the heterochromatin state and showed that its architecture presents a nanoscale-compacted organization controlled by Heterochromatin Protein-1 (HP1) and SETDB1 H3-lysine-9 methyltransferase homologs in vivo. Next, we functionally explored condensin complexes. We found that condensin I and condensin II are essential for heterochromatin compaction and that condensin I additionally controls lowly compacted regions. Our data show that, in living animals, nanoscale chromatin compaction is controlled not only by histone modifiers and readers but also by condensin complexes.
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BibTeX
@article{lleres2026quantitative,
title = {{Quantitative FLIM-FRET Microscopy to Monitor Nanoscale Chromatin Compaction In Vivo Reveals Structural Roles of Condensin Complexes}},
author = {David Llères and Aymeric Bailly and Aurélien Perrin and David Norman and Dimitris Xirodimas and Robert Feil},
journal = {Cell Reports},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.celrep.2017.01.043},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05751785v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Quantitative FLIM-FRET Microscopy to Monitor Nanoscale Chromatin Compaction In Vivo Reveals Structural Roles of Condensin Complexes
AU - David Llères
AU - Aymeric Bailly
AU - Aurélien Perrin
AU - David Norman
AU - Dimitris Xirodimas
AU - Robert Feil
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/16
JO - Cell Reports
DO - 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.01.043
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05751785v1
AB - How metazoan genomes are structured at the nanoscale in living cells and tissues remains unknown. Here, we adapted a quantitative FRET (Förster resonance energy transfer)-based fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) approach to assay nanoscale chromatin compaction in living organisms. Caenorhabditis elegans was chosen as a model system. By measuring FRET between histone-tagged fluorescent proteins, we visualized distinct chromosomal regions and quantified the different levels of nanoscale compaction in meiotic cells. Using RNAi and repetitive extrachromosomal array approaches, we defined the heterochromatin state and showed that its architecture presents a nanoscale-compacted organization controlled by Heterochromatin Protein-1 (HP1) and SETDB1 H3-lysine-9 methyltransferase homologs in vivo. Next, we functionally explored condensin complexes. We found that condensin I and condensin II are essential for heterochromatin compaction and that condensin I additionally controls lowly compacted regions. Our data show that, in living animals, nanoscale chromatin compaction is controlled not only by histone modifiers and readers but also by condensin complexes.
SN - 2211-1247
SN - 2211-1247
ER -