CENPA

Centromere protein A, also known as CENPA, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the CENPA gene.[5]

CENPA
Available structures
PDBOrtholog search: PDBe RCSB
Identifiers
AliasesCENPA, CENP-A, CenH3, centromere protein A
External IDsOMIM: 117139 MGI: 88375 HomoloGene: 1369 GeneCards: CENPA
Gene location (Human)
Chr.Chromosome 2 (human)[1]
Band2p23.3Start26,764,289 bp[1]
End26,801,067 bp[1]
Orthologs
SpeciesHumanMouse
Entrez

1058

12615

Ensembl

ENSG00000115163

ENSMUSG00000029177

UniProt

P49450

O35216

RefSeq (mRNA)

NM_001809
NM_001042426

NM_007681
NM_001302129
NM_001302130
NM_001302131
NM_001302132

RefSeq (protein)

NP_001035891
NP_001800

NP_001289058
NP_001289059
NP_001289060
NP_001289061
NP_031707

Location (UCSC)Chr 2: 26.76 – 26.8 MbChr 5: 30.67 – 30.67 Mb
PubMed search[3][4]
Wikidata
View/Edit HumanView/Edit Mouse

Function

Centromeres are the chromosomal domains that specify the mitotic behavior of chromosomes. The CENPA gene encodes a centromere protein which contains a histone H3 related histone fold domain that is required for targeting to the centromere. CENPA is proposed to be a component of a modified nucleosome or nucleosome-like structure in which it replaces 1 or both copies of conventional histone H3 in the (H3-H4)2 tetrameric core of the nucleosome particle. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms.[5]

In higher eukaryotes, the recruitment of CENP-A nucleosomes to existing centromeres is an epigenetic process, independent of the underlying DNA sequence. In S. pombe, de novo recruitment of the CENP-A to the centromere is believed to be controlled by "centromeric" heterochromatin surrounding the centromere, and by an RNAi mechanism. The RNAi is cut to form siRNA; this complexes with the protein Chp1, which then binds the centromeric heterochromatin. This helps recruit other proteins, ultimately resulting in a protein complex that forms cohesin between two sister chromatids at the centromeric heterochromatin. This cohesin is believed to be essential in replacing the centromere H3 with CENP-A. CENP-A is one of the epigenetic changes that is believed to distinguish centromeric DNA from other DNA.[6] Once the CENP-A has been added, the centromere becomes self-propagating, and the surrounding heterochromatin/RNAi mechanism is no longer necessary.[7]

References

  1. GRCh38: Ensembl release 89: ENSG00000115163 - Ensembl, May 2017
  2. GRCm38: Ensembl release 89: ENSMUSG00000029177 - Ensembl, May 2017
  3. "Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  4. "Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  5. EntrezGene 1058
  6. Chueh AC, Wong LH, Wong N, Choo KH (January 2005). "Variable and hierarchical size distribution of L1-retroelement-enriched CENP-A clusters within a functional human neocentromere". Hum. Mol. Genet. 14 (1): 85–93. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddi008. PMID 15537667.
  7. Folco HD, Pidoux AL, Urano T, Allshire RC (January 2008). "Heterochromatin and RNAi are required to establish CENP-A chromatin at centromeres". Science. 319 (5859): 94–7. doi:10.1126/science.1150944. PMC 2586718. PMID 18174443.

Further reading

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