The article “Single-Molecule Observation of DNA Compaction by Meiotic Protein SYCP3” has recently been published in eLife Journal using optical tweezers-fluorescence microscopy. Congratulations to all the authors!
In the paper by Syrjänen et al., optical tweezers-fluorescence microscopy was used to study the mechanism of SYCP3-mediated chromosome organization during meiosis, by probing how the DNA-binding behavior of the synaptonemal complex protein SYCP3 is affected by DNA compaction. Syrjänen et al. showed that SYCP3 oligomers have two different binding modes to DNA: one diffusive mode where the protein binds to and diffuses along the DNA, and one bridging mode in which a SYCP3 tetramer bridges the sides of a DNA loop. Moreover, the SYCP3-mediated loops are further stabilized by the local aggregation of proteins in large clusters consisting of between 20 and 90 tetramers.
The techniques used in this paper are made commercially available by LUMICKS. Read more about the C-Trap® optical tweezers here.
