Phosphorylation of CENP-A on Serine 7 Does Not Control Centromere Function

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2019 Jan 13

PMID 30635586

Citations 12

Authors

Viviana Barra

Glennis A Logsdon

Andrea Scelfo

Sebastian Hoffmann

Solene Herve

Aaron Aslanian

Yael Nechemia-Arbely

Don W Cleveland

Ben E Black

Daniele Fachinetti

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

CENP-A is the histone H3 variant necessary to specify the location of all eukaryotic centromeres via its CENP-A targeting domain and either one of its terminal regions. In humans, several post-translational modifications occur on CENP-A, but their role in centromere function remains controversial. One of these modifications of CENP-A, phosphorylation on serine 7, has been proposed to control centromere assembly and function. Here, using gene targeting at both endogenous CENP-A alleles and gene replacement in human cells, we demonstrate that a CENP-A variant that cannot be phosphorylated at serine 7 maintains correct CENP-C recruitment, faithful chromosome segregation and long-term cell viability. Thus, we conclude that phosphorylation of CENP-A on serine 7 is dispensable to maintain correct centromere dynamics and function.

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