Liu Chenshu, Mao Yinghui
Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032.
Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032
J Cell Biol. 2016 May 23;213(4):415-24. doi: 10.1083/jcb.201512034. Epub 2016 May 16.
Centromeres of higher eukaryotes are epigenetically defined by centromere protein A (CENP-A), a centromere-specific histone H3 variant. The incorporation of new CENP-A into centromeres to maintain the epigenetic marker after genome replication in S phase occurs in G1 phase; however, how new CENP-A is loaded and stabilized remains poorly understood. Here, we identify the formin mDia2 as essential for stable replenishment of new CENP-A at centromeres. Quantitative imaging, pulse-chase analysis, and high-resolution ratiometric live-cell studies demonstrate that mDia2 and its nuclear localization are required to maintain CENP-A levels at centromeres. Depletion of mDia2 results in a prolonged centromere association of holiday junction recognition protein (HJURP), the chaperone required for CENP-A loading. A constitutively active form of mDia2 rescues the defect in new CENP-A loading caused by depletion of male germ cell Rac GTPase-activating protein (MgcRacGAP), a component of the small GTPase pathway essential for CENP-A maintenance. Thus, the formin mDia2 functions downstream of the MgcRacGAP-dependent pathway in regulating assembly of new CENP-A containing nucleosomes at centromeres.
高等真核生物的着丝粒由着丝粒蛋白A(CENP-A)在表观遗传上定义,CENP-A是一种着丝粒特异性组蛋白H3变体。在S期基因组复制后,新的CENP-A在G1期整合到着丝粒中以维持表观遗传标记;然而,新的CENP-A如何加载和稳定仍知之甚少。在这里,我们确定formin mDia2对于着丝粒上新的CENP-A的稳定补充至关重要。定量成像、脉冲追踪分析和高分辨率比率活细胞研究表明,mDia2及其核定位是维持着丝粒处CENP-A水平所必需的。mDia2的缺失导致假日连接识别蛋白(HJURP)在着丝粒的结合时间延长,HJURP是CENP-A加载所需的伴侣蛋白。mDia2的组成型活性形式挽救了由雄性生殖细胞Rac GTP酶激活蛋白(MgcRacGAP)缺失引起的新CENP-A加载缺陷,MgcRacGAP是CENP-A维持所必需的小GTP酶途径的一个组成部分。因此,formin mDia2在调节着丝粒上新的含CENP-A核小体的组装中,在依赖MgcRacGAP的途径下游发挥作用。