Journal
TRENDS IN BIOCHEMICAL SCIENCES
Volume 37, Issue 6, Pages 220-229Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibs.2012.01.003
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Funding
- National Institutes of Health [GM082989]
- Burroughs Wellcome Fund
- Rita Allen Foundation Scholar Award
- American Cancer Society
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Centromeres direct faithful chromosome inheritance at cell division but are not defined by a conserved DNA sequence. Instead, a specialized form of chromatin containing the histone H3 variant, CENP-A, epigenetically specifies centromere location. We discuss current models where CENP-A serves as the marker for the centromere during the entire cell cycle in addition to generating the foundational chromatin for the kinetochore in mitosis. Recent elegant experiments have indicated that engineered arrays of CENP-A-containing nucleosomes are sufficient to serve as the site of kinetochore formation and for seeding centromeric chromatin that self-propagates through cell generations. Finally, recent structural and dynamic studies of CENP-A-containing histone complexes - before and after assembly into nucleosomes - provide models to explain underlying molecular mechanisms at the centromere.
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