The new paradigm: Integrating genomic function and nuclear architecture

A new view of the cell nucleus is emerging based on the functional dynamics of nuclear architecture. The striking structural preservation of a variety of genomic processes on the nuclear matrix provides an important approach for correlating nuclear form and function. In situ labeling coupled with three-dimensional microscopy and computer imaging techniques shows that DNA replication and transcription sites are organized into higher-order units, or "zones," in the cell nucleus. The dynamic interplay and "re-zoning" of replication and transcription regions during the cell cycle may form the structural basis for the elaborate global coordination of replicational and transcriptional programs in the mammalian cell. J. Cell. Biochem. Suppls. 30/31:238-242, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.