Complexity reduction of chromatin architecture in macula densa cells during mouse postnatal development

Abstract

An observation study in mice suggesting that the chromatin of macula densa cells undergoes loss of structural complexity that is most pronounced immediately after birth and remains during the first month of postnatal life. The findings add to the knowledge about the changes that take place in the kidney during postnatal development function and tissue structural organization, which are linked to changes in physiological function. ABSTRACT:Aim: To determine whether complexity of chromatin structure in kidney macula densa cells (MDC) decreases during postnatal development in mice.Methods: The levels of chromatin structural complexity were measured by determining fractal dimension of MDC nuclei. Kidney tissue was obtained from the total of 32 male Swiss albino mice divided into four age groups (n = 8): newborn (0 days), 10 days old, 20 days old and 30 days old. For a total of 640 MDC chromatin structures, fractal dimension, lacunarity, as well as parameters of Grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) texture were determined.Results: Chromatin fractal dimension in animals aged 10 days, 20 days and 30 days was significantly lower (P < 0.05, P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively), compared with newborn mice. This complexity reduction of chromatin architecture is in accordance with previously published studies, which detected generalized and sustained loss of both tissue and cell complexity during aging. The loss of complexity was texture-independent, since there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) in both chromatin angular second moment and inverse difference moment between the age groups. Conclusion:Our results indicate that age-related nuclear intrinsic factors which do not influence chromatin texture may have an important role in MDC postnatal development.

Quantification of structural changes in acute inflammation by fractal dimension, angular second moment and correlation

“…In contrast, standard deviation of fractal dimension of the cells was found to be larger in inflammatory group than in control group. Based on results of previous studies on fractal and textural features of normal biological structures (Pantic et al ., ; Pantic et al ., ), we may speculate that in physiological conditions GLCM parameters tend to have a relatively higher degree of variation compared to fractal dimension. In a state of inflammation, this relationship might be inverse, which may be attributed to discrete structural changes in pathologically changed tissue.…”

Fractal dimension of chromatin: potential molecular diagnostic applications for cancer prognosis

“…Following normal development of the rat heart, the FD of nuclear chromatin of cardiomyocytes diminished significantly (r = -0.603; p = 0.001; Spearman rank order correlation) with increasing age ( Figures 3–5 ) [133]. In a similar way, the FD of nuclear chromatin in kidney macula densa cells declined during postnatal development of male Swiss albino mice [134].…”

Iron oxide nanoparticles decrease nuclear fractal dimension of buccal epithelial cells in a time‐dependent manner

“…For example, we suggested that in some circumstances, there are age‐related changes in fractal dimension of mice spleen hematopoietic tissue (Pantic et al ., ). Also, changes in fractal changes in kidney macula densa cell nuclei were shown to be significant during postnatal development in an animal experimental mode (Pantic et al ., ). In central nervous system, we have indicated that fractal parameters of cell nuclei are related to the indicators of nuclear envelope shape, such as circularity (Pantic et al ., ).…”

“…In our recent work, fractal dimension was shown to be potentially sensitive indicator of tissue damage during ischemic/reperfusion injury (Pantic et al ., ). Also, we detected the statistically significant reduction in fractal complexity in several different cell populations during the process of physiological aging (Pantic et al ., ) and postnatal development (Pantic et al ., ).…”