Dear Colleagues,

As is widely recognized, chromatin affords a landscape where the activity state of the genome is modulated and perpetuated. Two mechanisms increase the information content of the genome, thereby constituting the epigenome: chemical modifications of DNA and histones and changes in the local compaction state of chromatin. These mechanisms are deeply interleaved, and the result is the hierarchical organization of chromatin across multiple scales shaped by chromatin-acting proteins. Knowledge of the multiscale genome organization and multifaceted gene regulation is still in its infancy. Yet, techniques able to map genomic regions with increasing spatial resolution have made considerable progress in the last two decades. Among others, a crucial contribution was given by high-resolution fluorescence microscopy, particularly in the so-called super-resolution mode. Indeed, several fluorescence imaging techniques are intimately suited to address the meso- and nanoscale of chromatin organization by reporting on functional molecular parameters, such as the chemical identity, the concentrations, the molecular aggregations, the local chromatin topology, and the diffusion/binding processes. Of note, fluorescence microscopy also posited the viewpoint of epigenetic alterations as novel treatment targets in the personalized therapies for several diseases.

In this Special Issue, we welcome original research or review articles related to all aspects of high-resolution fluorescence microscopy applied to investigate epigenetic mechanisms and chromatin remodeling, including studies on DNA methylation, modification of histones, the assembly of transcription machinery, and non-coding RNAs. Ambitiously, this Special Issue will try to collect in the same place (and make them widely available) state-of-the art fluorescence microscopy approaches aimed at investigating the subtle features of the chromatin landscape.

Prof. Dr. Ranieri Bizzarri
Prof. Dr. Andrew Clayton
Guest Editors

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• epigenetics
• fluorescence microscopy
• chromatin remodeling
• histone modifications
• functional fluorescent probes
• super-resolution microscopy