QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online September 2, 2003
doi: 10.1242/10.1242/jcs.00697

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Nakano, M. Articles by Masumoto, H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Nakano, M. Articles by Masumoto, H. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Epigenetic assembly of centromeric chromatin at ectopic -satellite sites on human chromosomes

Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: g44478a{at}nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp)

Accepted 4 June 2003

To investigate the mechanism of chromatin assembly at human centromeres, we isolated cultured human cell lines in which a transfected alpha-satellite (alphoid) YAC was integrated ectopically into the terminal region of host chromosome 16, where it was stably maintained. Centromere activity of the alphoid YAC was suppressed at ectopic locations on the host chromosome, as indicated by the absent or reduced assembly of CENP-A and -C. However, long-term culture in selective medium, or short-term treatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitor Trichostatin A (TSA), promoted the re-assembly of CENPA, -B and -C at the YAC site and the release of minichromosomes containing the YAC integration site. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses of the re-formed minichromosome and the alphoid YAC-based stable human artificial chromosome both indicated that CENP-A and CENP-B assembled only on the inserted alphoid array but not on the YAC arms. On the YAC arms at the alphoid YAC integration sites, TSA treatment increased both the acetylation level of histone H3 and the transcriptional level of a marker gene. An increase in the level of transcription was also observed after long-term culture in selective medium. These activities, which are associated with changes in chromatin structure, might reverse the suppressed chromatin state of the YAC at ectopic loci, and thus might be involved in the epigenetic change of silent centromeres on ectopic alphoid loci.

Key words: Centromere, Alpha-satellite, Mammalian artificial chromosome, Heterochromatin, Histone acetylation

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in JCS:

Centromere activation

JCS 2003 116: 1903. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				F. Ferri, H. Bouzinba-Segard, G. Velasco, F. Hube, and C. Francastel Non-coding murine centromeric transcripts associate with and potentiate Aurora B kinase Nucleic Acids Res., August 1, 2009; 37(15): 5071 - 5080. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				O. Pontes, P. Costa-Nunes, P. Vithayathil, and C. S. Pikaard RNA Polymerase V Functions in Arabidopsis Interphase Heterochromatin Organization Independently of the 24-nt siRNA-Directed DNA Methylation Pathway Mol Plant, July 1, 2009; 2(4): 700 - 710. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Li, L. Sonbuchner, S. A. Kyes, C. Epp, and K. W. Deitsch Nuclear Non-coding RNAs Are Transcribed from the Centromeres of Plasmodium falciparum and Are Associated with Centromeric Chromatin J. Biol. Chem., February 29, 2008; 283(9): 5692 - 5698. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Tsuduki, M. Nakano, N. Yasuoka, S. Yamazaki, T. Okada, Y. Okamoto, and H. Masumoto An Artificially Constructed De Novo Human Chromosome Behaves Almost Identically to Its Natural Counterpart during Metaphase and Anaphase in Living Cells. Mol. Cell. Biol., October 1, 2006; 26(20): 7682 - 7695. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Bouzinba-Segard, A. Guais, and C. Francastel Accumulation of small murine minor satellite transcripts leads to impaired centromeric architecture and function PNAS, June 6, 2006; 103(23): 8709 - 8714. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Nakashima, M. Nakano, R. Ohnishi, Y. Hiraoka, Y. Kaneda, A. Sugino, and H. Masumoto Assembly of additional heterochromatin distinct from centromere-kinetochore chromatin is required for de novo formation of human artificial chromosome J. Cell Sci., December 15, 2005; 118(24): 5885 - 5898. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Nagaki, P. Neumann, D. Zhang, S. Ouyang, C. R. Buell, Z. Cheng, and J. Jiang Structure, Divergence, and Distribution of the CRR Centromeric Retrotransposon Family in Rice Mol. Biol. Evol., April 1, 2005; 22(4): 845 - 855. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. N. Topp, C. X. Zhong, and R. K. Dawe Centromere-encoded RNAs are integral components of the maize kinetochore PNAS, November 9, 2004; 101(45): 15986 - 15991. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. J. Amor, K. Bentley, J. Ryan, J. Perry, L. Wong, H. Slater, and K. H. A. Choo Human centromere repositioning "in progress" PNAS, April 27, 2004; 101(17): 6542 - 6547. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Suzuki, M. Nakano, N. Nozaki, S.-i. Egashira, T. Okazaki, and H. Masumoto CENP-B Interacts with CENP-C Domains Containing Mif2 Regions Responsible for Centromere Localization J. Biol. Chem., February 13, 2004; 279(7): 5934 - 5946. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]