title: Premitotic assembly of human CENPs -T and -W switches centromeric chromatin to a mitotic state.
abstract: Centromeres are differentiated chromatin domains, present once per chromosome, that direct segregation of the genome in mitosis and meiosis by specifying assembly of the kinetochore. They are distinct genetic loci in that their identity in most organisms is determined not by the DNA sequences they are associated with, but through specific chromatin composition and context. The core nucleosomal protein CENP-A/cenH3 plays a primary role in centromere determination in all species and directs assembly of a large complex of associated proteins in vertebrates. While CENP-A itself is stably transmitted from one generation to the next, the nature of the template for centromere replication and its relationship to kinetochore function are as yet poorly understood. Here, we investigate the assembly and inheritance of a histone fold complex of the centromere, the CENP-T/W complex, which is integrated with centromeric chromatin in association with canonical histone H3 nucleosomes. We have investigated the cell cycle regulation, timing of assembly, generational persistence, and requirement for function of CENPs -T and -W in the cell cycle in human cells. The CENP-T/W complex assembles through a dynamic exchange mechanism in late S-phase and G2, is required for mitosis in each cell cycle and does not persist across cell generations, properties reciprocal to those measured for CENP-A. We propose that the CENP-A and H3-CENP-T/W nucleosome components of the centromere are specialized for centromeric and kinetochore activities, respectively. Segregation of the assembly mechanisms for the two allows the cell to switch between chromatin configurations that reciprocally support the replication of the centromere and its conversion to a mitotic state on postreplicative chromatin.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Prendergast
authors.forename: Chelly
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van Vuuren
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaczmarczyk
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Doering
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hellwig
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hoischen
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Diekmann
authors.forename: Kevin F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Sullivan
mesh_terms: D002453:Cell Cycle; D002503:Centromere / Q000378:metabolism*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism*; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000378:metabolism*; D016193:G1 Phase; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008938:Mitosis; D016196:S Phase; D008941:Spindle Apparatus
chemical_list: C534001:CENPT protein, human; C534000:CENPW protein, human; D002843:Chromatin; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone