STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF RAT HEPATOCYTE CHROMATIN AS VISUALIZED IN THIN FROZEN-SECTIONS SELECTIVELY STAINED FOR DNA

  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 33  (1) , 148-156
Abstract
The structure of rat hepatocyte chromatin in situ using thin frozen sections selectively stained for DNA after aldehyde fixation was studied. Intranucleolar chromatin is arranged into 3 different organization levels, confirming the observations on Epon-embedded chromatin. These are: completely extended DNA filaments, with a thickness of .apprx. 3 nm, clustered in loose, roundish agglomerates, very long fibers with a thickness ranging from 15-35 nm and compact chromatin clumps. Both the fibers and the chromatin clumps frequently appeared to be composed of nucleosome-like particles. In the extranucleolar chromatin, agglomerates of extended DNA filaments and long fibers were never visualized. In contrast to data from Epon-embedded chromatin, it was noticed that in frozen sections neither the nucleolar nor the extranucleolar compact chromatin appear to be organized into discrete, 20-30 nm superordered fibers.

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