title: Construction of neocentromere-based human minichromosomes for gene delivery and centromere studies.
abstract: Human neocentromeres are fully functional centromeres that arise naturally in non-centromeric regions devoid of alpha-satellite DNA. We have successfully produced a series of minichromosomes by telomere-associated truncation of a marker chromosome mardel(10) containing a neocentromere. The resulting minichromosomes are either linear or circular in nature, and range in size from approximately 650 kb to 2 Mb. These minichromosomes exhibit full centromeric activity, bind to essential centromere proteins, and are mitotically stable over many generations. They provide a useful system for dissecting the functional domains of complex eukaryotic centromeres and as vectors for therapeutic gene delivery.
authors.affiliation: The Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saffery
authors.forename: K H A
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Choo
mesh_terms: D002503:Centromere; D022222:Chromosomes, Artificial, Human; D017353:Gene Deletion; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D012106:Research