Alliegro Mark C
Josephine Bay Paul Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
RNA Biol. 2008 Oct-Dec;5(4):198-200. doi: 10.4161/rna.6972. Epub 2008 Oct 9.
The existence of nucleic acids associated with the centrosome has been controversial for many years. Founded in the 1950s and the subject of active inquiry in the 1970s and 1980s, the topic entered a period of hiatus for over a decade that was essentially capped by a comprehensive and authoritative review in 2000.(1) The consensus at the time was that there was no evidence supporting the presence of DNA in the centrosome and related structures, although the existence of centrosomal RNA remained a possibility. The question of centrosomal DNA remains unresolved. To this day the evidence-with no recent additions-is inconclusive and sometimes contradictory. The existence of RNA at the centrosome, however, has been conclusively demonstrated. Consequently, we may now revisit the lines of inquiry established decades ago and ask, what are the functions and origins of centrosome-associated RNA (cnRNA)? Is it important for replication of the mitotic center? Does it play a role in spindle assembly? Does it represent the remnant of a once-independent genome, derived by symbiogenesis? The questions are fundamental, interdependent and now answerable.
多年来，与中心体相关的核酸的存在一直存在争议。该主题始于20世纪50年代，在20世纪70年代和80年代成为积极探究的对象，之后进入了长达十多年的停滞期，这一时期基本上以2000年的一篇全面且权威的综述为结束。（1）当时的共识是，没有证据支持中心体及相关结构中存在DNA，尽管中心体RNA的存在仍是一种可能性。中心体DNA的问题仍未解决。时至今日，证据（最近没有新的补充）尚无定论，有时甚至相互矛盾。然而，中心体处RNA的存在已得到确凿证明。因此，我们现在可以重新审视几十年前确立的研究方向，并提出问题：中心体相关RNA（cnRNA）的功能和起源是什么？它对有丝分裂中心的复制重要吗？它在纺锤体组装中起作用吗？它是通过共生起源衍生而来的曾经独立基因组的残余物吗？这些问题是基本的、相互依存的，而且现在可以回答了。
