Disrupted nuclear shape is associated with multiple pathological processes including premature aging disorders, cancer-relevant chromosomal rearrangements, and DNA damage. Nuclear blebs (i.e., herniations of the nuclear envelope) have been induced by (1) nuclear compression, (2) nuclear migration (e.g., cancer metastasis), (3) actin contraction, (4) lamin mutation or depletion, and (5) heterochromatin enzyme inhibition. Recent work has shown that chromatin transformation is a hallmark of bleb formation, but the transformation of higher-order structures in blebs is not well understood. As higher-order chromatin has been shown to assemble into nanoscopic packing domains, we investigated if (1) packing domain organization is altered within nuclear blebs and (2) if alteration in packing domain structure contributed to bleb formation. Using Dual-Partial Wave Spectroscopic microscopy, we show that chromatin packing domains within blebs are transformed both by B-type lamin depletion and the inhibition of heterochromatin enzymes compared to the nuclear body. Pairing these results with single-molecule localization microscopy of constitutive heterochromatin, we show fragmentation of nanoscopic heterochromatin domains within bleb domains. Overall, these findings indicate that translocation into blebs results in a fragmented higher-order chromatin structure.
Summary statement: Nuclear blebs are linked to various pathologies, including cancer and premature aging disorders. We investigate alterations in higher-order chromatin structure within blebs, revealing fragmentation of nanoscopic heterochromatin domains.