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Mitosis Lab

@mitosislab.bsky.social

1.4K followers 679 following 22 posts

Structural cell biology @ University of Virginia Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics Former @ Dept. of Biological Sciences & CBIS, NUS anaphase.org med.virginia.edu/faculty/faculty-listing/wwh6xu mstdn.science/@MitosisLab

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Jon Chen @jonchenjk.bsky.social and Claris Chong's review of recent in situ cryo-ET chromatin studies and our opinion on an important future genomic direction is now published in Current Opinions in Structural Biology. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Gallery of recent cryotomograms of chromatin inside eukaryotic cells.

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Looks like us structural cell biologists will have to be satisfied with false-atomic resolution for awhile.

A paper reports a new resolution regime: "true-atomic" resolution.

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

As part of the revisions, Jon and Tingsheng did even more control experiments, including tomography of cells (1) without any cryoprotection and (2) with 9% glycerol. See if you can tell which one is adequately cryoprotected. Raw data will be available soon: www.ebi.ac.uk/empiar/EMPIAR-12425

Control cryotomogram of an RPE-1 cell nucleus.

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Happy that Jon Chen @jonchenjk.bsky.social's cryo-ET and confocal study of RPE-1 chromatin in situ is online www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44318-025-00407-2 Congrats also to coauthors Tingsheng Liu, @shujuncai.bsky.social, Cai Tong Ng, Jian Shi and collaborators Weimei Ruan Uttam Surana.

Cryo-ET visualization of chromatin at the nucleosome level in RPE-1 cells arrested in G1 phase and metaphase.

Cryotomograms of a metaphase RPE-1 cell.

3-D class averages of mononucleosomes and ordered stacked dinucleosomes in G1 and metaphase.

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

The notion that yeast chromatin is "open" globally has not only been supported by in situ cryo-ET, but also by a recent DNA-accessibility study in living cells. www.nature.com/articles/s41594-024-01318-2

Screenshot of genome-wide methyltransferase accessiblity study in budding yeast.

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

A key finding is that canonical nucleosomes weren't detected in proliferating cells. G0 cells, despite being transcriptionally repressed, have few canonical nucleosomes. This study adds to our previous cryo-ET of budding yeast, in which canonical nucleosomes are rare elifesciences.org/articles/87672

Comparison of nucleosome states inferred from cryo-ET analysis of G0 and interphase fission yeast.

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Zhi Yang Tan & @shujuncai.bsky.social's comparative study of G0 (quiescent) and interphase fission yeast cells is out in @jcellsci.bsky.social doi.org/10.1242/jcs.263654. This study combines multiple cell-biological analyses with in situ cryo-ET. Raw data: www.ebi.ac.uk/empiar/EMPIAR-10339

DIC and cryo-ET images of G1 and G0 fission yeast cells.

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 25/10/2024

After 13 wonderful years in Singapore, my lab will move to the University of Virginia in January 2025. We are excited to continue exploring chromatin inside cell nuclei. Please get in touch if you're interested in joining!

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 28/05/2024

Ordered stacked dinucleosomes are absent in glycerol and in pure media (ice crystal damage). The different nucleosome classes do not form obvious clusters. Higher-order assemblies (fibers, sheets, slinkies) are absent in glycerol and pure media.

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 16/04/2024

Updated our comparative study of G0 & proliferating fission yeast nuclei. The in situ cryo-ET is redone with cryolamellae + K3-GIF + 3-D classification. Canonical nucleosomes are rare in all cell types! Congrats to Zhi Yang, Shujun, et al. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 18/12/2023

Happy to share my opinions on how one should celebrate "negative" results, published in the Journal of Cell Science. doi.org/10.1242/jcs....

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Mitosis Lab @mitosislab.bsky.social · 03/12/2023

Come see our deeper dive into human chromatin in situ at #cellbio2023. #teamtomo study led by Jon Chen and Tingsheng Liu. Poster P2005, Board B281, Monday Dec 4. Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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