ArticleBiophysical journal2012
Chromatin decondensation and nuclear softening accompany Nanog downregulation in embryonic stem cells.
Article in Biophysical journal, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 89 papers.
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Who cites it
89 citing papers in PubMed, 159 citations in OpenAlex.
- Integration of nuclear mechanosensing with integrin-extracellular matrix adhesions.Nucleus (Austin, Tex.) · 2026Review
- Chromatin remodelling: a driving force in reverse mechanotransduction.RNA biology · 2026Review
- Nuclear mechanobiology: a brief history and five unresolved questions.Nucleus (Austin, Tex.) · 2026Article
- Multiscale Architecture and Mechanics of the Cell Nucleus: Implications for Disease, Bioengineering and Nanomedicine.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Lamin A/C directs nucleosome-scale chromatin remodeling to define early lineage segregation in mammals.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Intrinsic mechanotransduction during apical constriction licenses lineage competence in pluripotent stem cells.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- NANOG governs cell metabolism and redox homeostasis in human naïve embryonic stem cells.EMBO reports · 2025Article
- Rapid restoration of cell phenotype and matrix forming capacity following transient nuclear softening.Acta biomaterialia · 2025Article
- Nuclear compression-mediated DNA damage drives ATR-dependent Lamin expression and mouse ESC differentiation.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Peripheral heterochromatin tethering is required for chromatin-based nuclear mechanical response.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Chromatin phase separation and nuclear shape fluctuations are correlated in a polymer model of the nucleus.Nucleus (Austin, Tex.) · 2024Article
- The relationship between nanoscale genome organization and gene expression in mouse embryonic stem cells during pluripotency transition.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- Histone H1.0 couples cellular mechanical behaviors to chromatin structure.Nature cardiovascular research · 2024Article
- Nuclear growth and import can be uncoupled.Molecular biology of the cell · 2024Article
- Molecular Mechanisms for the Regulation of Nuclear Membrane Integrity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Transcription inhibition suppresses nuclear blebbing and rupture independently of nuclear rigidity.Journal of cell science · 2023Article
- Single-molecule tracking of Nanog and Oct4 in living mouse embryonic stem cells uncovers a feedback mechanism of pluripotency maintenance.The EMBO journal · 2023Article
- Binary Colloidal Crystals Promote Cardiac Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells via Nuclear Accumulation of SETDB1.ACS nano · 2023Article
- The dynamical organization of the core pluripotency transcription factors responds to differentiation cues in early S-phase.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2023Article
- PNIPAAm microgels with defined network architecture as temperature sensors in optical stretchers.Materials advances · 2022Article
29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The interplay between epigenetic modification and chromatin compaction is implicated in the regulation of gene expression, and it comprises one of the most fascinating frontiers in cell biology. Although a complete picture is still lacking, it is generally accepted that the differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells is accompanied by a selective condensation into heterochromatin with concomitant gene silencing, leaving access only to lineage-specific genes in the euchromatin. ES cells have been reported to have less condensed chromatin, as they are capable of differentiating into any cell type. However, pluripotency itself-even prior to differentiation-is a split state comprising a naïve state and a state in which ES cells prime for differentiation. Here, we show that naïve ES cells decondense their chromatin in the course of downregulating the pluripotency marker Nanog before they initiate lineage commitment. We used fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, and histone modification analysis paired with a novel, to our knowledge, optical stretching method, to show that ES cells in the naïve state have a significantly stiffer nucleus that is coupled to a globally more condensed chromatin state. We link this biophysical phenotype to coinciding epigenetic differences, including histone methylation, and show a strong correlation of chromatin condensation and nuclear stiffness with the expression of Nanog. Besides having implications for transcriptional regulation and embryonic cell sorting and suggesting a putative mechanosensing mechanism, the physical differences point to a system-level regulatory role of chromatin in maintaining pluripotency in embryonic development.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.