title: Epigenetic centromere propagation and the nature of CENP-a nucleosomes.
abstract: Centromeres direct chromosome inheritance, but in multicellular organisms their positions on chromosomes are primarily specified epigenetically rather than by a DNA sequence. The major candidate for the epigenetic mark is chromatin assembled with the histone H3 variant CENP-A. Recent studies offer conflicting evidence for the structure of CENP-A-containing chromatin, including the histone composition and handedness of the DNA wrapped around the histones. We present a model for the assembly and deposition of centromeric nucleosomes that couples these processes to the cell cycle. This model reconciles divergent data for CENP-A-containing nucleosomes and provides a basis for how centromere identity is stably inherited.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, 19104, USA. blackbe@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Ben E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Don W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Cleveland
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000378:metabolism*; D002503:Centromere / Q000378:metabolism*; D000076247:Centromere Protein A; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000378:metabolism*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D006657:Histones; D006801:Humans; D009707:Nucleosomes / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001324:Autoantigens; C000619700:CENPA protein, human; D000076247:Centromere Protein A; D002843:Chromatin; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D006657:Histones; D009707:Nucleosomes