Cell biology: cohesin ring exit gate revealed

Abstract

A multiprotein complex called cohesin mediates sister chromatid cohesion by entrapping sister DNAs into a tripartite ring. Recent studies show that Wapl opens the newly identified DNA exit gate of the cohesin ring, only when Smc3 is deacetylated, and that mutations in human Smc3 deacetylase cause a developmental disorder.