Perez-Castro A V, Shamanski F L, Meneses J J, Lovato T L, Vogel K G, Moyzis R K, Pedersen R
Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA.
Dev Biol. 1998 Sep 15;201(2):135-43. doi: 10.1006/dbio.1998.9005.
The centromere protein B (CENP-B) is a centromeric DNA/binding protein. It recognizes a 17-bp sequence motif called the CENP-B box, which is found in the centromeric region of most chromosomes. It binds DNA through its amino terminus and dimerizes through its carboxy terminus. CENP-B protein has been proposed to perform a vital role in organizing chromatin structures at centromeres. However, other evidence does not agree with this view. For example, CENP-B is found at inactive centromeres on stable dicentric chromosomes, and also mitotically stable chromosomes lacking alpha-satellite DNA have been reported. To address the biological function of CENP-B, we generated mouse null mutants of CENP-B by homologous recombination. Mice lacking CENP-B were viable and fertile, indicating that mice without CENP-B undergo normal somatic and germline development. Thus, both mitosis and meiosis are able to proceed normally in the absence of CENP-B.
着丝粒蛋白B（CENP - B）是一种着丝粒DNA结合蛋白。它能识别一种名为CENP - B盒的17个碱基对的序列基序，该序列基序存在于大多数染色体的着丝粒区域。它通过其氨基末端与DNA结合，并通过其羧基末端形成二聚体。有人提出CENP - B蛋白在着丝粒处组织染色质结构中发挥重要作用。然而，其他证据并不支持这一观点。例如，在稳定的双着丝粒染色体上的无活性着丝粒处发现了CENP - B，并且还报道了缺乏α卫星DNA的有丝分裂稳定染色体。为了研究CENP - B的生物学功能，我们通过同源重组产生了CENP - B基因敲除小鼠突变体。缺乏CENP - B的小鼠存活且可育，这表明没有CENP - B的小鼠能进行正常的体细胞和生殖系发育。因此，在没有CENP - B的情况下，有丝分裂和减数分裂都能正常进行。
