Looks like us structural cell biologists will have to be satisfied with false-atomic resolution for awhile.

As part of the revisions, Jon and Tingsheng did even more control experiments, including tomography of cells (1) without any cryoprotection and (2) with 9% glycerol. See if you can tell which one is adequately cryoprotected. Raw data will be available soon: www.ebi.ac.uk/empiar/EMPIAR-12425

Happy that Jon Chen @jonchenjk.bsky.social's cryo-ET and confocal study of RPE-1 chromatin in situ is online www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44318-025-00407-2
Congrats also to coauthors Tingsheng Liu, @shujuncai.bsky.social, Cai Tong Ng, Jian Shi and collaborators Weimei Ruan Uttam Surana.

The notion that yeast chromatin is "open" globally has not only been supported by in situ cryo-ET, but also by a recent DNA-accessibility study in living cells. www.nature.com/articles/s41594-024-01318-2

A key finding is that canonical nucleosomes weren't detected in proliferating cells. G0 cells, despite being transcriptionally repressed, have few canonical nucleosomes. This study adds to our previous cryo-ET of budding yeast, in which canonical nucleosomes are rare elifesciences.org/articles/87672

Zhi Yang Tan & @shujuncai.bsky.social's comparative study of G0 (quiescent) and interphase fission yeast cells is out in @jcellsci.bsky.social doi.org/10.1242/jcs.263654. This study combines multiple cell-biological analyses with in situ cryo-ET. Raw data: www.ebi.ac.uk/empiar/EMPIAR-10339

After 13 wonderful years in Singapore, my lab will move to the University of Virginia in January 2025. We are excited to continue exploring chromatin inside cell nuclei. Please get in touch if you're interested in joining!

Ordered stacked dinucleosomes are absent in glycerol and in pure media (ice crystal damage). The different nucleosome classes do not form obvious clusters. Higher-order assemblies (fibers, sheets, slinkies) are absent in glycerol and pure media.

Updated our comparative study of G0 & proliferating fission yeast nuclei. The in situ cryo-ET is redone with cryolamellae + K3-GIF + 3-D classification. Canonical nucleosomes are rare in all cell types! Congrats to Zhi Yang, Shujun, et al. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Happy to share my opinions on how one should celebrate "negative" results, published in the Journal of Cell Science. doi.org/10.1242/jcs....

Come see our deeper dive into human chromatin in situ at #cellbio2023. #teamtomo study led by Jon Chen and Tingsheng Liu. Poster P2005, Board B281, Monday Dec 4. Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...