Chromosome Conformation Capture and Beyond: Toward an Integrative View of Chromosome Structure and Function

Rapidly developing technologies have recently fueled an exciting era of discovery in the field of chromosome structure and nuclear organization. In addition to chromosome conformation capture (3C) methods, new alternative techniques have emerged to study genome architecture and biological processes in the nucleus, often in single or living cells. This sets an unprecedented stage for exploring the mechanisms that link chromosome structure and biological function. Here we review popular as well as emerging approaches to study chromosome organization, focusing on the contribution of complementary methodologies to our understanding of structures revealed by 3C methods and their biological implications, and discuss the next technical and conceptual frontiers. Advances in chromosome conformation capture techniques together with newly developed complementary methods have fueled an exciting era of discovery in chromosome structure and nuclear organization. McCord, Kaplan, and Giorgetti review these approaches and the discoveries they have allowed and discuss the next technical and conceptual frontiers.