George Anuja A, Walworth Nancy C
Department of Pharmacology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, The State University of New Jersey, 675 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ, 08854-5635, USA.
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, 08903-2681, USA.
Curr Genet. 2016 Nov;62(4):691-695. doi: 10.1007/s00294-016-0588-0. Epub 2016 Mar 14.
Cell division with accurate chromosome segregation is fundamental to cell survival of all organisms. The precise molecular mechanisms that ensure accurate chromosome segregation are still being discovered using a variety of experimental systems and approaches. Microtubule attachment to the kinetochore is a prerequisite for mitotic progression, failure of which activates the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC). The dynamic tension generated by interaction of the centromere, kinetochore and microtubules is a key regulator of the SAC. Here, in the context of current literature we discuss our recent observation in fission yeast that epigenetic alterations in centromeric and pericentromeric chromatin can compensate for altered dynamics of kinetochore-microtubule attachment to permit escape from mitotic arrest. A role for the spatial configuration of the centromere to influence the finely tuned regulators of mitotic progression opens up new avenues for research.
精确的染色体分离的细胞分裂是所有生物体细胞存活的基础。确保精确染色体分离的精确分子机制仍在通过各种实验系统和方法进行探索。微管附着于动粒是有丝分裂进程的先决条件，其失败会激活纺锤体组装检查点（SAC）。着丝粒、动粒和微管相互作用产生的动态张力是SAC的关键调节因子。在此，结合当前文献，我们讨论了我们最近在裂殖酵母中的观察结果，即着丝粒和着丝粒周围染色质的表观遗传改变可以补偿动粒-微管附着动力学的改变，从而使细胞逃离有丝分裂停滞。着丝粒的空间构型对有丝分裂进程精细调节因子的影响作用为研究开辟了新途径。
