Shaping the metaphase chromosome: coordination of cohesion and condensation.
Recent progress in our understanding of mitotic chromosome dynamics has been accelerated by the identification of two essential protein complexes, cohesin and condensin. Cohesin is required for holding sister chromatids (duplicated chromosomes) together from S phase until the metaphase-to-anaphase transition. Condensin is a central player in chromosome condensation, a process that initiates at the onset of mitosis. The main focus of this review is to discuss how the mitotic metaphase chromosome is assembled and shaped by a precise balance between the cohesion and condensation machineries. We argue that, in different eukaryotic organisms, the balance of cohesion and condensation is adjusted in such a way that the size and shape of the resulting chromosomes are best suited for their accurate segregation.
Losada
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Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
Hirano
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D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000502:physiology*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008677:Metaphase / Q000502:physiology*; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D000098550:Structural Maintenance of Chromosome Protein 1
D002352:Carrier Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C090455:SMC2 protein, S cerevisiae; C120372:SMC3 protein, S cerevisiae; C492318:SMC3 protein, human; C409162:SMC4 protein, S cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D000098550:Structural Maintenance of Chromosome Protein 1