A structural characterization of in situ chromatin on cell lines isolated from patients affected by ataxia telangiectasia

Int J Biol Macromol. 2003 Nov;33(1-3):23-9. doi: 10.1016/s0141-8130(03)00060-6.

Abstract

Ataxia telangiectasia (AT) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by numerous clinical and cellular features. The pleiotropic nature of the AT syndrome attests to the multiple roles of ATM, the protein codified by the gene altered in AT patients. We investigated if different mutations of ATM could reflect on different alterations of nuclear architecture and chromatin organization. We selected three lymphoblastoid cell lines isolated from AT patients affected by different mutations of ATM gene and one healthy control. We characterized the in situ chromatin structure of each cell line by a biophysical approach: (1) we evaluated the rearrangements of the chromatin domains at the level of single cell by quantitative fluorescence microscopy; (2) we analysed the changes of the average chromatin condensation by differential scanning calorimetry. The results show that the three different ATM mutations produce significant modifications of both nuclear architecture and chromatin condensation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Ataxia Telangiectasia / genetics*
  • Ataxia Telangiectasia / pathology
  • Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins
  • Calorimetry, Differential Scanning
  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Nucleus / genetics
  • Cell Nucleus / ultrastructure
  • Chromatin / chemistry*
  • Chromatin / ultrastructure
  • Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Humans
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / genetics*
  • Reference Values
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins

Substances

  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Chromatin
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins
  • ATM protein, human
  • Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases