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  • The EMBO Journal (2007) 26, 1279 - 1291
  • doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7601584

Published online: 22 February 2007

A minimal CENP-A core is required for nucleation and maintenance of a functional human centromere

Yasuhide Okamoto1, Megumi Nakano2, Jun-ichirou Ohzeki2, Vladimir Larionov2 and Hiroshi Masumoto1,2

  1. Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan
  2. Laboratory of Biosystems and Cancer, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

Correspondence to:

Hiroshi Masumoto, Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. Tel.: +81 52 789 2985; Fax: +81 52 789 5732; E-mail: g44478a@nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Received 26 June 2006; Accepted 9 January 2007

Chromatin clusters containing CENP-A, a histone H3 variant, are found in centromeres of multicellular eukaryotes. This study examines the ability of alpha-satellite (alphoid) DNA arrays in different lengths to nucleate CENP-A chromatin and form functional kinetochores de novo. Kinetochore assembly was followed by measuring human artificial chromosome formation in cultured human cells and by chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis. The results showed that both the length of alphoid DNA arrays and the density of CENP-B boxes had a strong impact on nucleation, spreading and/or maintenance of CENP-A chromatin, and formation of functional kinetochores. These effects are attributed to a change in the dynamic balance between assembly of chromatin containing trimethyl histone H3-K9 and chromatin containing CENP-A/C. The data presented here suggest that a functional minimum core stably maintained on 30–70 kb alphoid DNA arrays represents an epigenetic memory of centromeric chromatin.

  • Keywords:

    • alphoid DNA,
    • artificial chromosome,
    • centromere chromatin,
    • epigenetics,
    • heterochromatin
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