Stepwise unfolding supports a subunit model for vertebrate kinetochores

Vertebrate centromeres in mitosis are functionally bipartite structures stabilized by cohesin

Centromeres are scaffolds for the assembly of kinetochores that ensure chromosome segregation during cell division. How vertebrate centromeres obtain a three-dimensional structure to accomplish their primary function is unclear. Using super-resolution imaging, capture-C, and polymer modeling, we show that vertebrate centromeres are partitioned by condensins into two subdomains during mitosis. The bipartite structure is found in human, mouse, and chicken cells and is therefore a fundamental feature of vertebrate centromeres. Super-resolution imaging and electron tomography reveal that bipartite centromeres assemble bipartite kinetochores, with each subdomain binding a distinct microtubule bundle. Cohesin links the centromere subdomains, limiting their separation in response to spindle forces and avoiding merotelic kinetochore-spindle attachments. Lagging chromosomes during cancer cell divisions frequently have merotelic attachments in which the centromere subdomains are separated and bioriented. Our work reveals a fundamental aspect of vertebrate centromere biology with implications for understanding the mechanisms that guarantee faithful chromosome segregation.

Conserved and divergent mechanisms of inner kinetochore assembly onto centromeric chromatin

Kinetochores are large protein complexes built on centromeric chromatin that mediate chromosome segregation. The inner kinetochore, or constitutive centromere-associated network (CCAN), assembles onto centromeres defined by centromere protein A (CENP-A) nucleosomes (CENP-ANuc), and acts as a platform for the regulated assembly of the microtubule-binding outer kinetochore. Recent cryo-EM work revealed structural conservation of CCAN, from the repeating human regional centromeres to the point centromere of budding yeast. Centromere recognition is determined mainly through engagement of duplex DNA proximal to the CENP-A nucleosome by a DNA-binding CENP-LN channel located at the core of CCAN. Additional DNA interactions formed by other CCAN modules create an enclosed DNA-binding chamber. This configuration explains how kinetochores maintain their tight grip on centromeric DNA to withstand the forces of chromosome segregation. Defining the higher-order architecture of complete kinetochore assemblies with implications for understanding the 3D organisation of regional centromeres and mechanisms of kinetochore dynamics, including how kinetochores sense and respond to tension, are important future directions.

GRANT Motif Regulates CENP-A Incorporation and Restricts RNA Polymerase II Accessibility at Centromere

Precise chromosome segregation is essential for maintaining genomic stability, and its proper execution centers on the centromere, a chromosomal locus that mounts the kinetochore complex to mediate attachment of chromosomes to the spindle microtubules. The location of the centromere is epigenetically determined by a centromere-specific histone H3 variant, CENP-A. Many human cancers exhibit overexpression of CENP-A, which correlates with occurrence of aneuploidy in these malignancies. Centromeric targeting of CENP-A depends on its histone fold, but recent studies showed that the N-terminal tail domain (NTD) also plays essential roles. Here, we investigated implications of NTD in conferring aneuploidy formation when CENP-A is overexpressed in fission yeast. A series of mutant genes progressively lacking one amino acid of the NTD have been constructed for overexpression in wild-type cells using the intermediate strength nmt41 promoter. Constructs hosting disrupted GRANT (Genomic stability-Regulating site within CENP-A N-Terminus) motif in NTD results in growth retardation, aneuploidy, increased localization to the centromere, upregulated RNA polymerase II accessibility and transcriptional derepression of the repressive centromeric chromatin, suggesting that GRANT residues fine-tune centromeric CENP-A incorporation and restrict RNA polymerase II accessibility. This work highlighted the importance of CENP-A NTD, particularly the GRANT motif, in aneuploidy formation of overexpressed CENP-A in fission yeast.

A comprehensive investigation on pan-cancer impacts of constitutive centromere associated network gene family by integrating multi-omics data: A CONSORT-compliant article

BACKGROUND

The constitutive centromere associated network (CCAN) complex played a critical role in connecting the centromere with the mitotic spindle during mitosis and meiosis. Many studies have indicated that CCAN is related to the tumorigenesis and cancer development. Nonetheless, the overview of CCAN gene family in pan-cancer remain incompletely understood.

METHODS

We performed a comprehensive investigation on pan-cancer impacts of CCAN by integrating multi-omics data. We comprehensively investigated the expression profile, kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (kegg) pathway, mutation, copy number variation, tumor microenvironment, immune cells infiltration, and drug sensitivity of CCAN in pan-cancer. MRNA expression profiles were collected from the cancer genome atlas, oncomine and ccle, the differential expression and various relevance analysis were performed with R or Perl.

RESULTS

The results showed that the expression of CCAN was different in 33 tumors. Intriguingly, the poor survival in adrenocortical carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, kidney chromophobe, mesothelioma, kidney renal clear cell carcinoma, brain lower grade glioma, pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma, prostate adenocarcinoma, thyroid carcinoma, uveal melanoma was most likely related to the kegg single transduction pathway including one carbon pool by folate, proteasome, arachidonic acid metabolism and so on. CENPC, ITGB3BP, APITD1, CENPU, and CENPW were more involved in tumor microenvironment, which more likely related to NK cells resting, T cells follicular helper, T cells CD8, neutrophils, macrophages M0, T cells CD4 memory activated. The relationship of CCAN expression with drug sensitivity showed that chelerythrine, nelarabine, and hydroxyurea maybe be potential drugs.

CONCLUSIONS

This multidimensional study provides a valuable resource to assist mechanism research and clinical utility about CCAN.

Kinetochore assembly throughout the cell cycle

The kinetochore plays an essential role in facilitating chromosome segregation during cell division. This massive protein complex assembles onto the centromere of chromosomes and enables their attachment to spindle microtubules during mitosis. The kinetochore also functions as a signaling hub to regulate cell cycle progression, and is crucial to ensuring the fidelity of chromosome segregation. Despite the fact that kinetochores are large and robust molecular assemblies, they are also highly dynamic structures that undergo structural and organizational changes throughout the cell cycle. This review will highlight our current understanding of kinetochore structure and function, focusing on the dynamic processes that underlie kinetochore assembly.

High-resolution mapping of centromeric protein association using APEX-chromatin fibers

BACKGROUND

The centromere is a specialized chromosomal locus that forms the basis for the assembly of a multi-protein complex, the kinetochore and ensures faithful chromosome segregation during every cell division. The repetitive nature of the underlying centromeric sequence represents a major obstacle for high-resolution mapping of protein binding using methods that rely on annotated genomes. Here, we present a novel microscopy-based approach called "APEX-chromatin fibers" for localizing protein binding over the repetitive centromeric sequences at kilobase resolution.

RESULTS

By fusing centromere factors of interest to ascorbate peroxidase, we were able to label their binding profiles on extended chromatin fibers with biotin marks. We applied APEX-chromatin fibers to at least one member of each CCAN complex, most of which show a localization pattern different from CENP-A but within the CENP-A delineated centromeric domain. Interestingly, we describe here a novel characteristic of CENP-I and CENP-B that display extended localization beyond the CENP-A boundaries.

CONCLUSIONS

Our approach was successfully applied for mapping protein association over centromeric chromatin, revealing previously undescribed localization patterns. In this study, we focused on centromeric factors, but we believe that this approach could be useful for mapping protein binding patterns in other repetitive regions.

CENP-C/H/I/K/M/T/W/N/L and hMis12 but not CENP-S/X participate in complex formation in the nucleoplasm of living human interphase cells outside centromeres

Kinetochore proteins assemble onto centromeric chromatin and regulate DNA segregation during cell division. The inner kinetochore proteins bind centromeres while most outer kinetochore proteins assemble at centromeres during mitosis, connecting the complex to microtubules. Here, we measured the co-migration between protein pairs of the constitutive centromere associated network (CCAN) and hMis12 complexes by fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy (FCCS) in the nucleoplasm outside centromeres in living human interphase cells. FCCS is a method that can tell if in living cells two differently fluorescently labelled molecules migrate independently, or co-migrate and thus are part of one and the same soluble complex. We also determined the apparent dissociation constants (Kd) of the hetero-dimers CENP-T/W and CENP-S/X. We measured co-migration between CENP-K and CENP-T as well as between CENP-M and CENP-T but not between CENP-T/W and CENP-S/X. Furthermore, CENP-C co-migrated with CENP-H, and CENP-K with CENP-N as well as with CENP-L. Thus, in the nucleoplasm outside centromeres, a large fraction of the CENP-H/I/K/M proteins interact with CENP-C, CENP-N/L and CENP-T/W but not with CENP-S/X. Our FCCS analysis of the Mis12 complex showed that hMis12, Nsl1, Dsn1 and Nnf1 also form a complex outside centromeres of which at least hMis12 associated with the CENP-C/H/I/K/M/T/W/N/L complex.

Structural mechanisms of centromeric nucleosome recognition by the kinetochore protein CENP-N

Accurate chromosome segregation requires the proper assembly of kinetochore proteins. A key step in this process is the recognition of the histone H3 variant CENP-A in the centromeric nucleosome by the kinetochore protein CENP-N. We report cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), biophysical, biochemical, and cell biological studies of the interaction between the CENP-A nucleosome and CENP-N. We show that human CENP-N confers binding specificity through interactions with the L1 loop of CENP-A, stabilized by electrostatic interactions with the nucleosomal DNA. Mutational analyses demonstrate analogous interactions in Xenopus, which are further supported by residue-swapping experiments involving the L1 loop of CENP-A. Our results are consistent with the coevolution of CENP-N and CENP-A and establish the structural basis for recognition of the CENP-A nucleosome to enable kinetochore assembly and centromeric chromatin organization.

Distinct Roles of the Chromosomal Passenger Complex in the Detection of and Response to Errors in Kinetochore-Microtubule Attachment

The chromosomal passenger complex (CPC) localizes to centromeres in early mitosis to activate its subunit Aurora B kinase. However, it is unclear whether centromeric CPC localization contributes to CPC functions beyond Aurora B activation. Here, we show that an activated CPC that cannot localize to centromeres supports functional assembly of the outer kinetochore but is unable to correct errors in kinetochore-microtubule attachment in Xenopus egg extracts. We find that CPC has two distinct roles at centromeres: one to selectively phosphorylate Ndc80 to regulate attachment and a second, conserved kinase-independent role in the proper composition of inner kinetochore proteins. Although a fully assembled inner kinetochore is not required for outer kinetochore assembly, we find it is essential to recruit tension indicators, such as BubR1 and 3F3/2, to erroneous attachments. We conclude centromeric CPC is necessary for tension-dependent removal of erroneous attachments and for the kinetochore composition required to detect tension loss.

Centromere inheritance through the germline

The centromere directs chromosome segregation and genetic inheritance but is not itself heritable in a canonical, DNA-based manner. In most species, centromeres are epigenetically defined by the presence of a histone H3 variant centromere protein A (CENP-A), independent of underlying DNA sequence. Therefore, centromere inheritance depends on maintaining the CENP-A nucleosome mark across generations. Experiments in cycling somatic cells have led to a model in which centromere identity is maintained by a cell cycle-coupled CENP-A chromatin assembly pathway. However, the processes of animal gametogenesis pose unique challenges to centromere inheritance because of the extended cell cycle arrest and the massive genome reorganization in the female and male germline, respectively. Here, we review our current understanding of germline centromere inheritance and highlight outstanding questions.

Calcium depletion destabilises kinetochore fibres by the removal of CENP-F from the kinetochore

The attachment of spindle fibres to the kinetochore is an important process that ensures successful completion of the cell division. The Ca²⁺ concentration increases during the mitotic phase and contributes microtubule stability. However, its role in the spindle organisation in mitotic cells remains controversial. Here, we investigated the role of Ca²⁺ on kinetochore fibres in living cells. We found that depletion of Ca²⁺ during mitosis reduced kinetochore fibre stability. Reduction of kinetochore fibre stability was not due to direct inhibition of microtubule polymerisation by Ca²⁺-depletion but due to elimination of one dynamic component of kinetochore, CENP-F from the kinetochore. This compromised the attachment of kinetochore fibres to the kinetochore which possibly causes mitotic defects induced by the depletion of Ca²⁺.