PMID- 2318269
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19900507
LR  - 20190707
IS  - 0014-4827 (Print)
IS  - 0014-4827 (Linking)
VI  - 187
IP  - 2
DP  - 1990 Apr
TI  - Acridine orange-induced precipitation of mouse testicular sperm cell DNA reveals 
      new patterns of chromatin structure.
PG  - 328-34
AB  - Precipitate resulting from interaction between certain intercalators, such as 
      acridine orange (AO), and nucleic acids can be detected by electron microscopy. 
      Formation of precipitate in nuclei of live cells is modulated by chromatin 
      structure. Susceptibility of in situ DNA to precipitation was studied in mouse 
      testicular germ cells during various stages of sperm maturation. DNA in round 
      spermatid chromatin, similar to somatic cell euchromatin, was rather resistant to 
      precipitation; the electron-dense precipitate was granular and randomly 
      distributed. DNA in elongated spermatids was more susceptible to precipitation; 
      the products were in the form of fibers. At early stages of spermatid maturation 
      these fibers were distributed uniformly throughout the entire nucleus. At later 
      stages, the products appeared as approximately 25-nm-thick fibers arranged 
      longitudinally in arrays within the nucleus. With further cell maturation, fibers 
      in the anterior portion of the nucleus appeared to fuse, forming homogeneously 
      dense product. These fibrous products likely represent AO interactions with DNA 
      in chromatin in which transition proteins had replaced histones. Changing 
      patterns of these precipitated fibers likely reflect progressive stages of 
      chromatin condensation, which starts at the center and anterior portion of the 
      nucleus where the fibers coalesce. Mature sperm cell DNA, known to be complexed 
      with protamines, was more resistant to AO-induced precipitation. The data suggest 
      that precipitation induced by AO and monitored by electron microscopy may be a 
      useful probe of nuclear chromatin structure.
FAU - Evenson, D
AU  - Evenson D
AD  - Department of Chemistry, South Dakota State University, Brookings 57007.
FAU - Darzynkiewicz, Z
AU  - Darzynkiewicz Z
LA  - eng
GR  - R01 CA 28707/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
GR  - R37 CA 23296/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
PL  - United States
TA  - Exp Cell Res
JT  - Experimental cell research
JID - 0373226
RN  - 0 (Chromatin)
RN  - 9007-49-2 (DNA)
RN  - F30N4O6XVV (Acridine Orange)
SB  - IM
MH  - Acridine Orange/*pharmacology
MH  - Animals
MH  - Chemical Precipitation
MH  - Chromatin/drug effects/*ultrastructure
MH  - DNA/*drug effects
MH  - Male
MH  - Meiosis
MH  - Mice
MH  - Mice, Inbred Strains
MH  - Microscopy, Electron
MH  - Spermatids/cytology/drug effects/ultrastructure
MH  - Spermatozoa/*drug effects/ultrastructure
MH  - Testis
EDAT- 1990/04/01 00:00
MHDA- 1990/04/01 00:01
CRDT- 1990/04/01 00:00
PHST- 1990/04/01 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 1990/04/01 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 1990/04/01 00:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1016/0014-4827(90)90100-o [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Exp Cell Res. 1990 Apr;187(2):328-34. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(90)90100-o.