Heterochromatin boundaries maintain centromere position, size and number.

ABSTRACT: Centromeres are defined by a unique single chromatin domain featuring the histone H3 variant, centromere protein A (CENP-A), and ensure proper chromosome segregation. Centromeric chromatin typically occupies a small subregion of low DNA methylation within multimegabase arrays of hypermethylated alpha-satellite repeats and constitutive pericentric heterochromatin. Here, we define the molecular basis of how heterochromatin serves as a primary driver of centromere and neocentromere position, size and number. Using single-molecule epigenomics, we uncover roles for H3K9me3 methyltransferases SUV39H1/H2 and SETDB1, in addition to noncanonical roles for SUZ12, in maintaining H3K9me3 boundaries at centromeres. Loss of these heterochromatin boundaries leads to the progressive expansion and/or repos

SUBMITTER: Carty BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7618434 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature