Study Published on DNA Compaction by Meiotic Protein SYCP3 using LUMICKS Technology

The article “Single-Molecule Observation of DNA Compaction by Meiotic Protein SYCP3” has recently been published in eLife Journal using optical tweezers-fluorescence microscopy. Congratulations to all the authors!

In the paper by Syrjänen et al., optical tweezers-fluorescence microscopy was used to study the mechanism of SYCP3-mediated chromosome organization during meiosis, by probing how the DNA-binding behavior of the synaptonemal complex protein SYCP3 is affected by DNA compaction. Syrjänen et al. showed that SYCP3 oligomers have two different binding modes to DNA: one diffusive mode where the protein binds to and diffuses along the DNA, and one bridging mode in which a SYCP3 tetramer bridges the sides of a DNA loop. Moreover, the SYCP3-mediated loops are further stabilized by the local aggregation of proteins in large clusters consisting of between 20 and 90 tetramers.