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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Science. 2016 May 6;352(6286):aad6933. doi: 10.1126/science.aad6933

Fig. 1. The genome as a physical entity.

Fig. 1.

In eukaryotes, the genome is housed in the cell nucleus, which is separated from the cytoplasm by a double membrane (blue) supported by a network of intermediate filament proteins of the lamin family (red). The genome is a prominent physical entity with considerable mass, volume, and density. Transport between the nucleus and the cytoplasm occurs via nuclear pores (pink). DNA is folded into higher-order chromatin domains and ultimately chromosomes. The genome exerts, and is exposed to, mechanical forces transmitted into and out of the nucleus, either passively (red, green arrows) or actively via the membrane-spanning LINC protein complex (purple). The genome also exerts and is exposed to intranuclear forces (red, green arrows) via intrafiber, intrachromosomal, and interchromosomal interactions.