Structural highlights
Publication Abstract from PubMedThe multiprotein kinetochore complex must assemble at a specific site on each chromosome to achieve accurate chromosome segregation. Defining the nature of the DNA-protein interactions that specify the position of the kinetochore and provide a scaffold for kinetochore formation remain key goals. Here, we demonstrate that the centromeric histone-fold-containing CENP-T-W and CENP-S-X complexes coassemble to form a stable CENP-T-W-S-X heterotetramer. High-resolution structural analysis of the individual complexes and the heterotetramer reveals similarity to other histone fold-containing complexes including canonical histones within a nucleosome. The CENP-T-W-S-X heterotetramer binds to and supercoils DNA. Mutants designed to compromise heterotetramerization or the DNA-protein contacts around the heterotetramer strongly reduce the DNA binding and supercoiling activities in vitro and compromise kinetochore assembly in vivo. These data suggest that the CENP-T-W-S-X complex forms a unique nucleosome-like structure to generate contacts with DNA, extending the "histone code" beyond canonical nucleosome proteins. CENP-T-W-S-X Forms a Unique Centromeric Chromatin Structure with a Histone-like Fold.,Nishino T, Takeuchi K, Gascoigne KE, Suzuki A, Hori T, Oyama T, Morikawa K, Cheeseman IM, Fukagawa T Cell. 2012 Feb 3;148(3):487-501. PMID:22304917[1] From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. References
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