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Cell division

Six degrees of separation

Nature volume 477, pages 283–284 (2011)Cite this article

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During cell division, the DNA-associated CENP-A protein recruits the kinetochore protein complex to assemble on chromosomes. A region of just six amino-acid residues earmarks CENP-A for this purpose. See Letter p.354

In chromosomes, a series of protein particles act like spools, packaging DNA into a structure called chromatin. The spools are known as nucleosomes, and most are composed of eight subunits — two subunits of each of the four major histone proteins, H2A, H2B, H3 and H4. However, the centromeric sites, which are required for chromosome segregation during cell division, are different. Instead of two subunits of H3, centromeric nucleosomes contain the centromere-specific histone H3 variant called CENP-A. Two papers1,2, including one by Guse et al. on page 354 of this issue, provide structural and mechanistic insights into the workings of CENP-A-containing nucleosomes.

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Figure 1: Recognition of CENP-A-containing nucleosomes.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alison Pidoux and Robin Allshire are at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, Institute of Cell Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JR, UK.,

    Alison Pidoux & Robin Allshire

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  1. Alison Pidoux
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  2. Robin Allshire
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Correspondence to Robin Allshire.

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Pidoux, A., Allshire, R. Six degrees of separation. Nature 477, 283–284 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/477283a

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