National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Genes Dev. 2011 May 1;25(9):901-6. doi: 10.1101/gad.2045111. Epub 2011 Apr 8.
In higher eukaryotes, the centromere is epigenetically specified by the histone H3 variant Centromere Protein-A (CENP-A). Deposition of CENP-A to the centromere requires histone chaperone HJURP (Holliday junction recognition protein). The crystal structure of an HJURP-CENP-A-histone H4 complex shows that HJURP binds a CENP-A-H4 heterodimer. The C-terminal β-sheet domain of HJURP caps the DNA-binding region of the histone heterodimer, preventing it from spontaneous association with DNA. Our analysis also revealed a novel site in CENP-A that distinguishes it from histone H3 in its ability to bind HJURP. These findings provide key information for specific recognition of CENP-A and mechanistic insights into the process of centromeric chromatin assembly.
在高等真核生物中,着丝粒通过组蛋白 H3 变体着丝粒蛋白 A (CENP-A) 被表观遗传指定。CENP-A 向着丝粒的沉积需要组蛋白伴侣 HJURP(霍利迪接头识别蛋白)。HJURP-CENP-A-组蛋白 H4 复合物的晶体结构表明,HJURP 结合 CENP-A-H4 异二聚体。HJURP 的 C 末端 β-折叠结构域覆盖组蛋白异二聚体的 DNA 结合区域,防止其自发与 DNA 结合。我们的分析还揭示了 CENP-A 中的一个新位点,该位点能够区分其与组蛋白 H3 的结合能力,从而区分 CENP-A。这些发现为 CENP-A 的特异性识别提供了关键信息,并深入了解了着丝粒染色质组装的机制。