HIPMap: A High-Throughput Imaging Method for Mapping Spatial Gene Positions

The three-dimensional organization of genes inside the cell nucleus affects their functions including DNA transcription, replication, and repair. A major goal in the field of nuclear architecture is to determine what cellular factors establish and maintain the position of individual genes. Here, we describe HIPMap, a high-throughput imaging and analysis pipeline for the mapping of endogenous gene loci within the 3D space of the nucleus. HIPMap can be used for a variety of applications including screening, mapping translocations, validating chromosome conformation capture data, probing DNA-protein interactions, and interrogation of the relationship of gene expression with localization.