Chromatin movement visualized with photoactivable GFP-labeled histone H4

The cell nucleus is highly organized with chromosomes occupying discrete, partially overlapping territories, and proteins that localize to specific nuclear compartments. This spatial organization of the nucleus is considered to be dynamic in response to environmental and cellular conditions to support changes in transcriptional programs. Chromatin, however, is relatively immobile when analyzed in living cells and shows a constrained Brownian type of movement. A possible explanation for this relative immobility is that chromatin interacts with a nuclear matrix structure and/or with nuclear compartments. Here, we explore the use of photoactivatable GFP fused to histone H4 as a potential tool to analyze the mobility of chromatin at various nuclear compartments. Selective photoactivation of photoactivatable-GFP at defined nuclear regions was achieved by two-photon excitation with 820 nm light. Nuclear speckles, which are considered storage sites of splicing factors, were visualized by coexpression of a fluorescent protein fused to splicing factor SF2/ASF. The results reveal a constrained chromatin motion, which is not affected by transcriptional inhibition, and suggests an intimate interaction of chromatin with speckles.