REVIEW: Studying Structure and Functions of Nucleosomes with Atomic Force Microscopy

---

Alexander A. Ukraintsev¹, Mikhail M. Kutuzov¹, and Olga I. Lavrik^1,2,a*

¹Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia

²Novosibirsk State University, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia

Received October 14, 2023; Revised February 19, 2024; Accepted February 22, 2024

---

Chromatin is an epigenetic platform for implementation of DNA-dependent processes. Nucleosome, as a basic level of chromatin compaction, largely determines its properties and structure. In the study of nucleosomes structure and functions physicochemical tools are actively used, such as magnetic and optical “tweezers”, “DNA curtains”, nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray crystallography, and cryogenic electron microscopy, as well as optical methods based on Förster resonance energy transfer. Despite the fact that these approaches make it possible to determine a wide range of structural and functional characteristics of chromatin and nucleosomes with high spatial and time resolution, atomic force microscopy (AFM) complements the capabilities of these methods. The results of structural studies of nucleosome focusing on the AFM method development are presented in this review. The possibilities of AFM are considered in the context of application of other physicochemical approaches.

---

KEY WORDS: nucleosome, AFM, chromatin, single-molecule methods for studying biomolecules

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297924040072

Publisher’s Note. Pleiades Publishing remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

---