Nuclear pores and interphase chromatin: high-resolution image analysis and freeze etching

Computer-enhanced analysis of electron micrographs of thin-sectioned rat liver nuclei, combined with three-dimensional reconstruction of the same Feulgen-stained nuclei, points to a unique clustering of chromatin DNA fibres near the nuclear border. Computer-enhanced image analysis has been applied to electron micrographs of the envelopes of the same rat liver nuclei prepared by freeze etching and a few essential geometrical parameters characterizing the pores and their distribution have been determined. During interphase, clusters of nuclear pores, closely paralleling the clustering of membrane-attached chromatin fibres, have been identified on the envelope, the number of these being similar to the number of homologus pairs of metaphase chromosomes. Furthermore, rapid changes induced in chromatin distribution appear to be associated with rapid changes in pore number, but not in the number of pore clusters.