{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Carty BL"],"funding":["European Research Council","Wellcome Trust"],"pagination":["220-234"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7618434"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["33(2)"],"pubmed_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"],"journal":["Nature structural & molecular biology"],"pubmed_title":["Heterochromatin boundaries maintain centromere position, size and number."],"pmcid":["PMC7618434"],"funding_grant_id":["101078838","304643","210645"],"pubmed_authors":["Murillo-Pineda M","Volpe E","Whittingham O","Giunta S","Fachinetti D","Dubocanin D","Mikulski P","Altemose N","Carty BL","Jansen LET","Dumont M","Humes J"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Heterochromatin boundaries maintain centromere position, size and number.","description":"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","dates":{"release":"2026-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2026 Feb","modification":"2026-07-16T09:39:55.41Z","creation":"2026-07-09T10:47:04.031Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC7618434","cross_references":{"pubmed":["41291334"],"doi":["10.1038/s41594-025-01706-2"]}}