Topic Overview:

Alteration in spatial organization of nuclear architecture is closely linked with genomic instability and epigenetic regulations and plays a crucial role in the progressive transformation from normal cells to their malignant derivative. Abnormal nuclear architecture remains one of the hallmarks in cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The clinically established morphological characteristics of nuclear architecture in cancer cells are based on microscopic imaging of stained tumor tissue. Because of the limited resolution of light microscopy, they are mostly micron-scale features and often have limited accuracy. Liu and her team developed a new imaging technique based on low-coherence spectral interferometry, capable of high-throughput mapping of three-dimensional nuclear architecture at nanoscale sensitivity on label-free tissue and cells, with the goal of identifying new imaging-based markers to predict cancer progression and understand the transformation of nuclear architecture in carcinogenesis. Her team demonstrated that nanoscale nuclear architecture exhibits distinct imaging features characteristic of early cancer development before characteristic nuclear morphological changes can be visualized with conventional light microscopy. Liu’s team is also working on imaging the spatial-temporal alterations in nanoscale nuclear architecture during malignant progression. Nanoscale nuclear architecture imaging is a potential new tool for personalized cancer risk assessment in order to predict the individual’s cancer progression risk assessment at a precancerous stage to reduce unnecessary treatment.