Position of chromosomes 18, 19, 21 and 22 in 3D-preserved interphase nuclei of human and gorilla and white hand gibbon

BACKGROUND: Even though comparative nuclear architecture studies in hominoids are sparse, nuclear chromosome architecture was shown to be conserved during hominoid evolution. Thus, it is suspected that yet unknown biological mechanisms must underlie this observation. RESULTS: Here for the first time a combination of multicolor banding (MCB) and three-dimensional analysis of interphase cells was used to characterize the position and orientation of human chromosomes #18, #19, #21 and #22 and their homologues in primate B-lymphocytic cells. In general, our data is in concordance with previous studies. The position of the four studied human chromosomes and their homologues were conserved during primate evolution. However, comparison of interphase architecture in human B-lymphocytic cells and sperm revealed differences of localization of acrocentric chromosomes. The latter might be related to the fact that the nucleolus organizing region is not active in sperm. CONCLUSION: Studies in different tissue types may characterize more – potentially biologically relevant differences in nuclear architecture.