Application of STED imaging for chromatin studies

Chromatin is the information center of a cell. It comprises proteins and nucleic acids that form a highly complex and dynamic structure within the nucleus. Its multiple organization levels span from micrometre to nanometre scale. For many years, the lower levels of chromatin organization have been beyond the resolution limit of fluorescent microscopy, thus impeding research on nucleus architecture, transcription, translation and DNA repair. Recent development in super-resolution fluorescence microscopy enables us to more easily observe objects at the nanometre scale and allows the study of complex cellular structures at unprecedented detail. This review focuses on the application of stimulated emission depletion microscopy for imaging two main components of the chromatin-DNA and the proteins interacting with it.