Rošić Silvana, Erhardt Sylvia
Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London, London, UK.
ZMBH, DKFZ-ZMBH-Alliance and CellNetworks Excellence Cluster, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 282, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2016 Apr;73(7):1387-98. doi: 10.1007/s00018-015-2124-7. Epub 2016 Jan 9.
Centromeres represent the basis for kinetochore formation, and are essential for proper chromosome segregation during mitosis. Despite these essential roles, centromeres are not defined by specific DNA sequences, but by epigenetic means. The histone variant CENP-A controls centromere identity epigenetically and is essential for recruiting kinetochore components that attach the chromosomes to the mitotic spindle during mitosis. Recently, a new player in centromere regulation has emerged: long non-coding RNAs transcribed from repetitive regions of centromeric DNA function in regulating centromeres epigenetically. This review summarizes recent findings on the essential roles that transcription, pericentromeric transcripts, and centromere-derived RNAs play in centromere biology.
着丝粒是动粒形成的基础，对于有丝分裂期间染色体的正确分离至关重要。尽管有着这些重要作用，但着丝粒并非由特定的DNA序列定义，而是通过表观遗传方式确定。组蛋白变体CENP - A通过表观遗传控制着丝粒身份，并且对于募集在有丝分裂期间将染色体附着于有丝分裂纺锤体的动粒组分至关重要。最近，着丝粒调控中出现了一个新成员：从着丝粒DNA重复区域转录的长链非编码RNA在表观遗传调控着丝粒中发挥作用。本综述总结了关于转录、着丝粒周围转录本以及着丝粒衍生RNA在着丝粒生物学中所起重要作用的最新发现。
