AI Article Synopsis
- The centromere is crucial for ensuring proper chromosome inheritance during cell division in eukaryotes and is characterized by the presence of the histone variant CENP-A.
- Although the process that precisely targets CENP-A to centromeric regions is not fully understood, normal human centromeres are known to be built upon specific DNA sequences called alpha-satellite (alphoid) DNA.
- The assembly and maintenance of centromeres are dependent on these alphoid DNA elements and CENP-B binding sites, which are essential for both natural and artificial centromere formation in human cells.
Article Abstract
The centromere is an essential functional domain responsible for the correct inheritance of eukaryotic chromosomes during cell division. Eukaryotic centromeres include the highly conserved centromere-specific histone H3 variant, CENP-A, which has provided a powerful tool for investigating the recruitment of centromere components. However, the trigger that targets CENP-A to a specific genomic locus during centromere assembly remains unknown. Although, on rare occasions, CENP-A chromatin may assemble at non-centromeric DNA, all normal human centromeres are assembled and maintained on alpha-satellite (alphoid) DNA. The importance of alphoid DNA and CENP-B binding sites (CENP-B boxes), typical of normal human centromere DNA configurations, has been demonstrated through their requirement in de novo centromere assembly and Human Artificial Chromosome (HAC) assays. Mechanisms to link the centromere tightly to specific genomic sequences exist in humans and the two yeast species.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:CHRO.0000036593.72788.99 | DOI Listing |
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