Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
Annu Rev Genet. 2012;46:443-53. doi: 10.1146/annurev-genet-110711-155419. Epub 2012 Sep 4.
Despite many challenges, great progress has been made in identifying kinetochore proteins and understanding their overall functions relative to spindles and centromeric DNA. In contrast, less is known about the specialized centromeric chromatin environment and how it may be involved in regulating the assembly of kinetochore proteins. Multiple independent lines of evidence have implicated transcription and the resulting RNA as an important part of this process. Here, we summarize recent literature demonstrating the roles of centromeric RNA in regulating kinetochore assembly and maintenance. We also review literature suggesting that the process of centromeric transcription may be as important as the resulting RNA and that such transcription may be involved in recruiting the centromeric histone variant CENH3.
尽管面临许多挑战，但在鉴定着丝粒蛋白及其相对于纺锤体和着丝粒 DNA 的整体功能方面已经取得了很大进展。相比之下，对于特化的着丝粒染色质环境及其如何参与调节着丝粒蛋白的组装，人们知之甚少。多项独立的研究证据表明，转录和由此产生的 RNA 是该过程的重要组成部分。在这里，我们总结了最近的文献，证明了着丝粒 RNA 在调节着丝粒组装和维持中的作用。我们还回顾了文献，表明着丝粒转录过程可能与产生的 RNA 一样重要，并且这种转录可能涉及招募着丝粒组蛋白变体 CENH3。
