Nanomechanotransduction and interphase nuclear organization influence on genomic control

Abstract

The ability of cells to alter their genomic regulation in response to mechanical conditioning or through changes in morphology and the organization of the interphase nuclei are key questions in cell biology. Here, two nanotopographies have been used as a model surfaces to change cell morphology in order to investigate spatial genomic changes within the nuclei of fibroblasts. Initially, centromeres for chromosome pairs were labeled and the average distance on different substrates calculated. Further to this, Affymetrix whole genome GeneChips were used to rank genomic changes in response to topography and plot the whereabouts on the chromosomes these changes were occurring. It was seen that as cell spreading was changed, so were the positions along the chromosomes that gene regulations were being observed. We hypothesize that as changes in cell and thus nuclear morphology occur, that this may alter the probability of transcription through opening or closing areas of the chromosomes to transcription factors.