How to build a centromere: from centromeric and pericentromeric chromatin to kinetochore assemblyThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue, entitled 27th International West Coast Chromatin and Chromosome Conference, and has undergone the Journal's usual peer review process.

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 619-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa J. Vos ◽  
Jakub K. Famulski ◽  
Gordon K.T. Chan

The assembly of the centromere, a specialized region of DNA along with a constitutive protein complex which resides at the primary constriction and is the site of kinetochore formation, has been puzzling biologists for many years. Recent advances in the fields of chromatin, microscopy, and proteomics have shed a new light on this complex and essential process. Here we review recently discovered mechanisms and proteins involved in determining mammalian centromere location and assembly. The centromeric core protein CENP-A, a histone H3 variant, is hypothesized to designate centromere localization by incorporation into centromere-specific nucleosomes and is essential for the formation of a functional kinetochore. It has been found that centromere localization of centromere protein A (CENP-A), and therefore centromere determination, requires proteins involved in histone deacetylation, as well as base excision DNA repair pathways and proteolysis. In addition to the incorporation of CENP-A at the centromere, the formation of heterochromatin through histone methylation and RNA interference is also crucial for centromere formation. The assembly of the centromere and kinetochore is complex and interdependent, involving epigenetics and hierarchical protein–protein interactions.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 420-430

Host microbial interactions had significant factors in maintains homeostasis and immune-related activity. One such interaction made by Lactobacillus sp. with Surface layer proteins (Slps) had been studied through a computational approach. Erb3 and αIIB-β3, which are epithelial surface layer receptors, are subjected to interact with the Slp homology model. Both cell surface receptors were subjected to interact through computational docking, followed by molecular dynamics simulations through the coarse-grain method to explore the conformational stability. Through the implementation of the molecular docking for the surface layer protein A, we have shown the surface layer protein A, protein-protein interactions are higher in cellular receptors with epidermal growth factor receptor at an -34.45 ΔG and -51.19 ΔG through molecular docking with Erb3 and αIIB-β3. This study shows the unique interaction of Slp with the epithelial surface receptors like Erb3 and αIIB-β3, which are multipurpose applications in microbial-based drug therapeutics.


2007 ◽  
Vol 176 (6) ◽  
pp. 795-805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars E.T. Jansen ◽  
Ben E. Black ◽  
Daniel R. Foltz ◽  
Don W. Cleveland

Centromeres direct chromosomal inheritance by nucleating assembly of the kinetochore, a large multiprotein complex required for microtubule attachment during mitosis. Centromere identity in humans is epigenetically determined, with no DNA sequence either necessary or sufficient. A prime candidate for the epigenetic mark is assembly into centromeric chromatin of centromere protein A (CENP-A), a histone H3 variant found only at functional centromeres. A new covalent fluorescent pulse-chase labeling approach using SNAP tagging has now been developed and is used to demonstrate that CENP-A bound to a mature centromere is quantitatively and equally partitioned to sister centromeres generated during S phase, thereby remaining stably associated through multiple cell divisions. Loading of nascent CENP-A on the megabase domains of replicated centromere DNA is shown to require passage through mitosis but not microtubule attachment. Very surprisingly, assembly and stabilization of new CENP-A–containing nucleosomes is restricted exclusively to the subsequent G1 phase, demonstrating direct coupling between progression through mitosis and assembly/maturation of the next generation of centromeres.


2016 ◽  
Vol 213 (4) ◽  
pp. 415-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenshu Liu ◽  
Yinghui Mao

Centromeres of higher eukaryotes are epigenetically defined by centromere protein A (CENP-A), a centromere-specific histone H3 variant. The incorporation of new CENP-A into centromeres to maintain the epigenetic marker after genome replication in S phase occurs in G1 phase; however, how new CENP-A is loaded and stabilized remains poorly understood. Here, we identify the formin mDia2 as essential for stable replenishment of new CENP-A at centromeres. Quantitative imaging, pulse-chase analysis, and high-resolution ratiometric live-cell studies demonstrate that mDia2 and its nuclear localization are required to maintain CENP-A levels at centromeres. Depletion of mDia2 results in a prolonged centromere association of holiday junction recognition protein (HJURP), the chaperone required for CENP-A loading. A constitutively active form of mDia2 rescues the defect in new CENP-A loading caused by depletion of male germ cell Rac GTPase-activating protein (MgcRacGAP), a component of the small GTPase pathway essential for CENP-A maintenance. Thus, the formin mDia2 functions downstream of the MgcRacGAP-dependent pathway in regulating assembly of new CENP-A containing nucleosomes at centromeres.


2008 ◽  
Vol 183 (7) ◽  
pp. 1193-1202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen J. Marshall ◽  
Alan T. Marshall ◽  
K.H. Andy Choo

The histone H3 variant centromere protein A (CENP-A) is central to centromere formation throughout eukaryotes. A long-standing question in centromere biology has been the organization of CENP-A at the centromere and its implications for the structure of centromeric chromatin. In this study, we describe the three-dimensional localization of CENP-A at the inner kinetochore plate through serial-section transmission electron microscopy of human mitotic chromosomes. At the kinetochores of normal centromeres and at a neocentromere, CENP-A occupies a compact domain at the inner kinetochore plate, stretching across two thirds of the length of the constriction but encompassing only one third of the constriction width and height. Within this domain, evidence of substructure is apparent. Combined with previous chromatin immunoprecipitation results (Saffery, R., H. Sumer, S. Hassan, L.H. Wong, J.M. Craig, K. Todokoro, M. Anderson, A. Stafford, and K.H.A. Choo. 2003. Mol. Cell. 12:509–516; Chueh, A.C., L.H. Wong, N. Wong, and K.H.A. Choo. 2005. Hum. Mol. Genet. 14:85–93), our data suggest that centromeric chromatin is arranged in a coiled 30-nm fiber that is itself coiled or folded to form a higher order structure.


2007 ◽  
Vol 176 (6) ◽  
pp. 757-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul S. Maddox ◽  
Francie Hyndman ◽  
Joost Monen ◽  
Karen Oegema ◽  
Arshad Desai

Nucleosomes containing the centromere-specific histone H3 variant centromere protein A (CENP-A) create the chromatin foundation for kinetochore assembly. To understand the mechanisms that selectively target CENP-A to centromeres, we took a functional genomics approach in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, in which failure to load CENP-A results in a signature kinetochore-null (KNL) phenotype. We identified a single protein, KNL-2, that is specifically required for CENP-A incorporation into chromatin. KNL-2 and CENP-A localize to centromeres throughout the cell cycle in an interdependent manner and coordinately direct chromosome condensation, kinetochore assembly, and chromosome segregation. The isolation of KNL-2–associated chromatin coenriched CENP-A, indicating their close proximity on DNA. KNL-2 defines a new conserved family of Myb DNA-binding domain–containing proteins. The human homologue of KNL-2 is also specifically required for CENP-A loading and kinetochore assembly but is only transiently present at centromeres after mitotic exit. These results implicate a new protein class in the assembly of centromeric chromatin and suggest that holocentric and monocentric chromosomes share a common mechanism for CENP-A loading.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Chen ◽  
Nan Liu ◽  
Yinpin Huang ◽  
Yuanxun Wang ◽  
Yuxing Sun ◽  
...  

AbstractMolecular glues are a class of small molecular drugs that mediate protein-protein interactions, that induce either the degradation or stabilization of target protein. A structurally diverse group of chemicals, including 17-β-estradiol (E2), anagrelide, nauclefine, and DNMDP, induces apoptosis by forming complexes with phosphodiesterase 3A (PDE3A) and Schlafen 12 protein (SLFN12). They do so by binding to the PDE3A enzymatic pocket that allows the compound-bound PDE3A to recruit and stabilize SLFN12, which in turn blocks protein translation, leading to apoptosis. In this work, we report the high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy structure of PDE3A-SLFN12 complexes isolated from cultured HeLa cells pre-treated with either anagrelide, or nauclefine, or DNMDP. The PDE3A-SLFN12 complexes exhibit a butterfly-like shape, forming a heterotetramer with these small molecules, which are packed in a shallow pocket in the catalytic domain of PDE3A. The resulting small molecule-modified interface binds to the short helix (E552-I558) of SLFN12 through hydrophobic interactions, thus “gluing” the two proteins together. Based on the complex structure, we designed and synthesized analogs of anagrelide, a known drug used for the treatment of thrombocytosis, to enhance their interactions with SLFN12, and achieved superior efficacy in inducing apoptosis in cultured cells as well as in tumor xenografts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 7147
Author(s):  
Olga A. Kladova ◽  
Irina V. Alekseeva ◽  
Murat Saparbaev ◽  
Olga S. Fedorova ◽  
Nikita A. Kuznetsov

Human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) is known to be a critical player of the base excision repair (BER) pathway. In general, BER involves consecutive actions of DNA glycosylases, AP endonucleases, DNA polymerases, and DNA ligases. It is known that these proteins interact with APE1 either at upstream or downstream steps of BER. Therefore, we may propose that even a minor disturbance of protein–protein interactions on the DNA template reduces coordination and repair efficiency. Here, the ability of various human DNA repair enzymes (such as DNA glycosylases OGG1, UNG2, and AAG; DNA polymerase Polβ; or accessory proteins XRCC1 and PCNA) to influence the activity of wild-type (WT) APE1 and its seven natural polymorphic variants (R221C, N222H, R237A, G241R, M270T, R274Q, and P311S) was tested. Förster resonance energy transfer–based kinetic analysis of abasic site cleavage in a model DNA substrate was conducted to detect the effects of interacting proteins on the activity of WT APE1 and its single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variants. The results revealed that WT APE1 activity was stimulated by almost all tested DNA repair proteins. For the SNP variants, the matters were more complicated. Analysis of two SNP variants, R237A and G241R, suggested that a positive charge in this area of the APE1 surface impairs the protein–protein interactions. In contrast, variant R221C (where the affected residue is located near the DNA-binding site) showed permanently lower activation relative to WT APE1, whereas neighboring SNP N222H did not cause a noticeable difference as compared to WT APE1. Buried substitution P311S had an inconsistent effect, whereas each substitution at the DNA-binding site, M270T and R274Q, resulted in the lowest stimulation by BER proteins. Protein–protein molecular docking was performed between repair proteins to identify amino acid residues involved in their interactions. The data uncovered differences in the effects of BER proteins on APE1, indicating an important role of protein–protein interactions in the coordination of the repair pathway.


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