Figure 2. Influence of the concentration of polymer in the medium on nuclear volume.

Nuclei were released as described in Figure 1, centrifuged onto slides, incubated for 30 min in a solution of the same polymer at the concentration shown, and fixed in the same solution. (A) nuclei in Ficoll, phase-contrast. (B) nuclei in Ficoll stained with YOYO, 3D volumes rendered from serial confocal sections to confirm that the changes of diameter in (A) represent changes of volume. (C) mean nuclear volume as a function of polymer concentration. Error bars show 95% confidence limits (n = 30) and horizontal dashed lines 95% confidence limits for the volume of nuclei in living cells labelled with DRAQ5. All differences of mean volume from that in 0% polymer were significant at p≤0.01, calculated by the Welch t-test. Bars 10 µm.