Journal
CURRENT BIOLOGY
Volume 26, Issue 8, Pages 1110-1116Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.02.061
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- American Heart Association
- NIH [GM008275, HD058730]
- UPenn Center for Study of Epigenetics in Reproduction [HD068157]
- UPenn Epigenetics Program
- UPenn Institute on Aging
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Centromeres control genetic inheritance by directing chromosome segregation but are not genetically encoded themselves. Rather, centromeres are defined by nucleosomes containing CENP-A, a histone H3 variant [1]. In cycling somatic cells, centromere identity is maintained by an established cell-cycle-coupled CENP-A chromatin assembly pathway, but how centromeres are inherited through the mammalian female germline is unclear because of the long (months to decades) prophase I arrest. Here we show that mouse oocytes retain the pool of CENP-A nucleosomes assembled before birth, and that this pool is sufficient for centromere function, fertility, and genome transmission to embryos. Indeed, oocytes lack any measurable CENP-A nucleosome assembly through the entire fertile lifespan of the female (>1year). Thus, the remarkable stability of CENP-A nucleosomes confers transgenerational centromere identity in mammals.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available