Accurate segregation of chromosomes during cell division is essential for the reproduction and development of all organisms. Missegregation of chromosomes can cause cancer and other diseases. Using GM/CA@APS beamlines, the Yawen Bai group and collaborators defined the structure of the conserved region of the centromere protein CENP-C in complex with the centromeric nucleosome. This structure reveals a general mechanism of chromosome segregation and is a major advance in understanding human inheritance beyond DNA sequence.
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Figure: Structure of the CENP-C motif (red) in complex with the centromeric nucleosome. The CENP-C motif docks on H2A (light orange) and H2B (salmon) and specifically interacts with the C-terminal tail of centromere-specific histone CENP-A (light blue). Histone H4 is light green (Image: Yawen Bai, National Cancer Institute, NIH). |
Citation: Kato H, Jiang J, Zhou BR, Rozendaal M, Feng H, Ghirlando R, Xiao TS, Straight AF, Bai Y. A conserved mechanism for centromeric nucleosome recognition by centromere protein CENP-C. Science. 2013 May 31; 340:1110-1113. doi: 10.1126/science.1235532.
GM/CA @ APS
