title: Identification of overlapping DNA-binding and centromere-targeting domains in the human kinetochore protein CENP-C.
abstract: The kinetochore in eukaryotes serves as the chromosomal site of attachment for microtubules of the mitotic spindle and directs the movements necessary for proper chromosome segregation. In mammalian cells, the kinetochore is a highly differentiated trilaminar structure situated at the surface of the centromeric heterochromatin. CENP-C is a basic, DNA-binding protein that localizes to the inner kinetochore plate, the region that abuts the heterochromatin. Microinjection experiments using antibodies specific for CENP-C have demonstrated that this protein is required for the assembly and/or stability of the kinetochore as well as for a timely transition through mitosis. From these observations, it has been suggested that CENP-C is a structural protein that is involved in the organization or the kinetochore. In this report, we wished to identify and map the functional domains of CENP-C. Analysis of CENP-C truncation mutants expressed in vivo demonstrated that CENP-C possesses an autonomous centromere-targeting domain situated at the central region of the CENP-C polypeptide. Similarly, in vitro assays revealed that a region of CENP-C with the ability to bind DNA is also located at the center of the CENP-C molecule, where it overlaps the centromere-targeting domain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tomkiel
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saitoh
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Earnshaw
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002503:Centromere / Q000378:metabolism*; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals; D008938:Mitosis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D017384:Sequence Deletion
chemical_list: D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C060905:centromere protein C