Nuclear bodies (also known as nuclear domains or nuclear dots) are biomolecular condensates, membraneless structures found in the cell nuclei of eukaryoticcells.[1] Nuclear bodies include Cajal bodies, the nucleolus, nuclear speckles (also called splicing speckles), histone locus bodies, and promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) nuclear bodies (also called PML oncogenic dots).[2] Nuclear bodies also include ND10s. ND stands for nuclear domain, and 10 refers to the number of dots seen.[3] Additionally, a nuclear body subtype is a clastosome suggested to be a site of protein degradation.[4]
While biomolecular condensate is a term often used interchangeably with nuclear bodies, the term "condensates" implies the thermodynamic properties of the body are known.[5] Thus, nuclear body (and sometimes nuclear compartment) is a term that is more general and encompasses structures where either the biophysical property is not a condensate or is currently untested.[6]
Nuclear bodies were first seen as prominent interchromatin structures in the nuclei of malignant or hyperstimulated animal cells[7][8] identified using anti-sp100 autoantibodies from primary biliary cirrhosis and subsequently the promyelocytic leukemia (PML) factor, but appear also to be elevated in many autoimmune and cancerous diseases.[9] Nuclear dots are metabolically stable and resistant to nuclease digestion and salt extraction.[10]
^Weber SC (June 2017). "Sequence-encoded material properties dictate the structure and function of nuclear bodies". Current Opinion in Cell Biology. 46: 62–71. doi:10.1016/j.ceb.2017.03.003. PMID28343140.
^Zimber A, Nguyen QD, Gespach C (October 2004). "Nuclear bodies and compartments: functional roles and cellular signalling in health and disease". Cellular Signalling. 16 (10): 1085–104. doi:10.1016/j.cellsig.2004.03.020. PMID15240004.
^Bhat P, Hanson D, Guttman M (August 2021). "Nuclear compartmentalization as a mechanism for quantitative control of gene expression". Nature Reviews. Molecular Cell Biology. 22 (5): 653–670. doi:10.1038/s41580-021-00387-1. PMID34341548.
^Sternsdorf T, Grötzinger T, Jensen K, Will H (December 1997). "Nuclear dots: actors on many stages". Immunobiology. 198 (1–3): 307–31. doi:10.1016/s0171-2985(97)80051-4. PMID9442402.
^Pawlotsky JM, Andre C, Metreau JM, Beaugrand M, Zafrani ES, Dhumeaux D (July 1992). "Multiple nuclear dots antinuclear antibodies are not specific for primary biliary cirrhosis". Hepatology. 16 (1): 127–31. doi:10.1002/hep.1840160121. PMID1319948. S2CID22729443.