Vig B K, Paweletz N, Broccoli D
Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno 89557.
Prog Clin Biol Res. 1989;318:137-48.
Premature centromere separation somehow nullifies the deposition of kinetochore proteins in multicentric chromosomes, is associated with early DNA replication of the centromere and the pericentric region and results in a lack of functionality of the centromere. It is conceivable that monocentric chromosomes which show premature separation, like the X chromosome as found in elderly human females (Fitzgerald et al, 1975), may have similar properties which result in a failure of centromere function and, hence, aneuploidy. This may be one of the general mechanisms by which chromosomes malsegregate.
