Epigenetic engineering: histone H3K9 acetylation is compatible with kinetochore structure and function.

ABSTRACT: Human kinetochores are transcriptionally active, producing very low levels of transcripts of the underlying alpha-satellite DNA. However, it is not known whether kinetochores can tolerate acetylated chromatin and the levels of transcription that are characteristic of housekeeping genes, or whether kinetochore-associated 'centrochromatin', despite being transcribed at a low level, is essentially a form of repressive chromatin. Here, we have engineered two types of acetylated chromatin within the centromere of a synthetic human artificial chromosome. Tethering a minimal NF-κB p65 activation domain within kinetochore-associated chromatin produced chromatin with high levels of histone H3 acetylated on lysine 9 (H3K9ac) and an ~10-fold elevation in transcript levels, but had no substantial effe

SUBMITTER: Bergmann JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3283876 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature