Artificial generation of centromeres and kinetochores to understand their structure and function

Tetsuya Hori; Tatsuo Fukagawa

doi:10.1016/j.yexcr.2020.111898

Artificial generation of centromeres and kinetochores to understand their structure and function

Exp Cell Res. 2020 Apr 15;389(2):111898. doi: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2020.111898. Epub 2020 Feb 6.

Authors

Tetsuya Hori¹, Tatsuo Fukagawa²

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan. Electronic address: thori@fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp.
² Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan. Electronic address: tfukagawa@fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp.

PMID: 32035949
DOI: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2020.111898

Abstract

The centromere is an essential genomic region that provides the surface to form the kinetochore, which binds to the spindle microtubes to mediate chromosome segregation during mitosis and meiosis. Centromeres of most organisms possess highly repetitive sequences, making it difficult to study these loci. However, an unusual centromere called a "neocentromere," which does not contain repetitive sequences, was discovered in a patient and can be generated experimentally. Recent advances in genome biology techniques allow us to analyze centromeric chromatin using neocentromeres. In addition to neocentromeres, artificial kinetochores have been generated on non-centromeric loci, using protein tethering systems. These are powerful tools to understand the mechanism of the centromere specification and kinetochore assembly. In this review, we introduce recent studies utilizing the neocentromeres and artificial kinetochores and discuss current problems in centromere biology.

Keywords: Centromere; Chromatin; Epigenetics; Kinetochore; Neocentromere.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Centromere / chemistry
Centromere / metabolism*
Chromosome Segregation*
Humans
Kinetochores / chemistry
Kinetochores / metabolism*
Meiosis*
Mitosis*