Chromatin bridge
| Chromatin bridge | |
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| DAPI staining allows for visualization of deoxyribonucleic acid portions of the two daughter cells. The thin “string-like” DNA connecting them is defined as a chromatin bridge. | |
| Classification and external resources |
Chromatin bridge is a mitotic occurrence that forms when telomeres of sister chromatids fuse together and fail to completely segregate into their respective daughter cells. Because this event is most prevalent during anaphase, the term anaphase bridge is often used as a substitute. After the formation of individual daughter cells, the DNA bridge connecting homologous chromosomes remains fixed. As the daughter cells exit mitosis and re-enter interphase, the chromatin bridge becomes known as an interphase bridge. These phenomena are usually visualized using the laboratory techniques of staining and fluorescence microscopy.
The faithful inheritance of genetic information from one cellular generation to the next heavily relies on the duplication of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), as well as the formation of two identical daughter cells. This complicated cellular process, known as mitosis, depends on a multitude of cellular checkpoints, signals, interactions and signal cascades for accurate and faithful functioning. Cancer, characterized by uncontrollable cell growth mechanisms and high tendencies for proliferation and metastasis, is highly prone to mitotic mistakes. As a result, several forms of chromosomal aberrations occur, including, but not limited to, binucleated cells, multipolar spindles and micronuclei. Chromatin bridges may serve as a marker of cancer activity.
Chromatin bridges may form by any number of processes wherein chromosomes remain topologically entangled during mitosis. One way in which this may occur is the failure to resolve joint molecules formed during homologous recombination mediated DNA repair, a process that ensures that replicated chromosomes are intact before chromosomes are segregated during cell division. In particular, genetic studies have demonstrated that the loss of the enzymes BLM (Bloom's Syndrome Helicase) or FANCM each result in a dramatic increase in the number of chromatin bridges. This occurs because loss of these genes causes an increase in chromosome fusions, either in an end-to-end manner or through topological entrapment (e.g., catenation or unresolved DNA cross-links), have also been associated with chromatin bridge formation. When viewed under a fluorescence microscope and immunostained for cytological markers, these chromatin bridges appear to emanate from either centromeres, telomeres or DNA crosslinks (as marked by FANCD2).
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