Splitting the chromosome: cutting the ties that bind sister chromatids.
In eukaryotic cells, sister DNA molecules remain physically connected from their production at S phase until their separation during anaphase. This cohesion is essential for the separation of sister chromatids to opposite poles of the cell at mitosis. It also permits chromosome segregation to take place long after duplication has been completed. Recent work has identified a multisubunit complex called cohesin that is essential for connecting sisters. Proteolytic cleavage of one of cohesin's subunits may trigger sister separation at the onset of anaphase.
Nasmyth
K
K
Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Dr. Bohr-Gasse 7, A-1030 Vienna, Austria. nasmyth@nt.imp.univie.ac.at
Peters
J M
JM
Uhlmann
F
F
D000705:Anaphase; D064173:Anaphase-Promoting Complex-Cyclosome; D000818:Animals; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002842:Chromatids / Q000378:metabolism*; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D020090:Chromosome Segregation; D010450:Endopeptidases; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D006570:Heterochromatin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008025:Ligases / Q000378:metabolism; D008677:Metaphase; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D064247:Separase; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000502:physiology; D043743:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligase Complexes; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D000097722:Cohesins
D064173:Anaphase-Promoting Complex-Cyclosome; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D010450:Endopeptidases; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D006570:Heterochromatin; D008025:Ligases; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D064247:Separase; D043743:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligase Complexes; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D000097722:Cohesins