Centromeric and ectopic assembly of CENP-A chromatin in health and cancer: old marks and new tracks.

ABSTRACT: The histone H3 variant CENP-A confers epigenetic identity to the centromere and plays crucial roles in the assembly and function of the kinetochore, thus ensuring proper segregation of our chromosomes. CENP-A containing nucleosomes exhibit unique structural specificities and lack the complex profile of gene expression-associated histone posttranslational modifications found in canonical histone H3 and the H3.3 variant. CENP-A mislocalization into noncentromeric regions resulting from its overexpression leads to chromosomal segregation aberrations and genome instability. Overexpression of CENP-A is a feature of many cancers and is associated with malignant progression and poor outcome. The recent years have seen impressive progress in our understanding of the mechanisms that orchestrate CEN

SUBMITTER: Sharma AB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6379705 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature