Review
Cell Biology
Fioranna Renda, Alexey Khodjakov
Summary: The kinetochore plays a crucial role in facilitating chromosome segregation during cell division by attaching chromosomes to spindle microtubules. It also acts as a signaling hub to regulate cell cycle progression and ensures the accuracy of chromosome segregation. Despite being large and robust molecular assemblies, kinetochores undergo dynamic structural and organizational changes throughout the cell cycle.
SEMINARS IN CELL & DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ayumu Yamamoto
Summary: Accurate chromosome segregation is crucial for cell proliferation and sexual reproduction. While the mechanisms of attachment selection and elimination are not fully understood, recent studies suggest that chromosome oscillation may play a role in the elimination of erroneous attachments.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Pavel Neumann, Ludmila Oliveira, Tae-Soo Jang, Petr Novak, Andrea Koblizkova, Veit Schubert, Andreas Houben, Jiri Macas
Summary: The transition from monocentric to holocentric organization in Cuscuta was associated with loss or truncation of kinetochore-related genes, disruption of centromeric localization of kinetochore proteins, and degeneration of the spindle assembly checkpoint. This indicates that holocentric Cuscuta species lack a standard kinetochore and do not employ the SAC to control microtubule attachment to chromosomes.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Review
Genetics & Heredity
Andrew D. McAinsh, Adele L. Marston
Summary: This paper presents the components, assembly, structure, and function of kinetochores. The authors outline a blueprint for kinetochore assembly and discuss how functions are mapped onto this architecture. They also explore how the underlying chromatin influences kinetochore shape.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF GENETICS
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Harsh Nagpal, Beat Fierz
Summary: The centromere is an indispensable chromatin domain in eukaryotes, necessary for chromosome segregation; its unique structure relies on nucleosomes containing CENP-A; CENP-A binding proteins play a crucial role in modulating the structure of centromeric chromatin.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sunbin Deng, Jiaxi Cai, Stephen C. Harrison, Huilin Zhou, Stephen M. Hinshaw
Summary: Successful mitosis relies on the correct attachment of chromosomes to microtubules. The kinetochore plays a crucial role in this process by recognizing specific chromatin and ensuring the formation of only one kinetochore per chromatid at the correct location. The crystal structure of the Cse4 peptide bound to the inner kinetochore Okp1-Ame1 complex provides insights into centromere recognition and the organization of the inner kinetochore.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Qianhua Dong, Xue-lei Liu, Xiao-hui Wang, Yu Zhao, Yu-hang Chen, Fei Li
Summary: CENP-T interacts with Ccp1 to regulate centromere binding throughout the cell cycle, involving phosphorylation of a specific domain CIM. Competitive exclusion between Ccp1 and Ndc80 at the N terminus of CENP-T via phosphorylation ensures precise kinetochore assembly during mitosis, uncovering a previously unrecognized mechanism for kinetochore assembly through the cell cycle.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Divine Mensah Sedzro, Xiao Yuan, McKay Mullen, Umer Ejaz, Tongtong Yang, Xu Liu, Xiaoyu Song, Yun-Chi Tang, Weijun Pan, Peng Zou, Xinjiao Gao, Dongmei Wang, Zhikai Wang, Zhen Dou, Xing Liu, Xuebiao Yao
Summary: The study reveals that CENP-R collaborates with CENP-OPQU to regulate the stability of kinetochore-microtubule attachment and ensure accurate chromosome segregation during mitosis. Phosphorylation of CENP-R affects its localization to the kinetochore, possibly by disrupting its binding with CENP-U.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tobias Raisch, Giuseppe Ciossani, Ennio D'Amico, Verena Cmentowski, Sara Carmignani, Stefano Maffini, Felipe Merino, Sabine Wohlgemuth, Ingrid R. Vetter, Stefan Raunser, Andrea Musacchio
Summary: A high-resolution cryo-EM structure of the ROD-Zwilch-ZW10 complex reveals essential features, such as a farnesyl-binding site required for Spindly binding. In vitro assays demonstrate that the SAC kinase MPS1 is necessary and sufficient for corona assembly at supercritical concentrations of the RZZ-Spindly complex, and the molecular mechanism of phosphorylation-dependent filament nucleation is described.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marco A. Andonegui-Elguera, Rodrigo E. Caceres-Gutierrez, Alejandro Lopez-Saavedra, Fernanda Cisneros-Soberanis, Montserrat Justo-Garrido, Jose Diaz-Chavez, Luis A. Herrera
Summary: During mitosis, chromatin undergoes various activities regulated by histone post-translational modifications (HPTMs). Specific HPTMs play roles in chromosome condensation, centromere formation, and the assembly of regulatory protein complexes. Additionally, environmental factors can modify HPTMs, affecting chromosome segregation and genome stability.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Joao Barbosa, Claudio E. Sunkel, Carlos Conde
Summary: This review provides an overview of the molecular strategies that monitor and fine-tune KT-MT attachment formation during mitosis, to ensure accurate segregation of sister chromatids. This process is crucial for safe mitotic progression.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Babhrubahan Roy, Janice Sim, Simon J. Y. Han, Ajit P. Joglekar
Summary: The study investigates the interaction between Spc105 and Kre28 in budding yeast KTs. The results show that Spc105 and Kre28 localize at the KT with a 1:1 stoichiometry, and their interaction is important for Spc105 turnover and mutual recruitment at the KTs.
Review
Cell Biology
Hunter J. Hill, Kent G. Golic
Summary: This article reviews the studies on centromere strength over the past 70 years, with a special focus on the characterization of Drosophila melanogaster kinetochores, in order to determine if the current evidence supports the previous conclusions.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ho-Soo Lee, Sunwoo Min, Ye-Eun Jung, Sunyoung Chae, June Heo, Jae-Ho Lee, TaeSoo Kim, Ho-Chul Kang, Makoto Nakanish, Sun-Shin Cha, Hyeseong Cho
Summary: The study reveals that the RSF1-PLK1 axis plays a crucial role in the activation of Aurora B, enhancing its catalytic activity through phosphorylation and promoting chromosome alignment and segregation. This kinase combination is crucial for regulating dynamic microtubule-kinetochore attachment in early mitosis.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Simon Leclerc, Katsumi Kitagawa
Summary: This article discusses the recent discovery of the function of human centromeric RNA in the regulation and structure of the centromere, as well as the consequences of dysregulation of centromeric RNA in cancer.
FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shreyas Sridhar, Tetsuya Hori, Reiko Nakagawa, Tatsuo Fukagawa, Kaustuv Sanyal
Summary: This study reveals the recurrent loss of conventional kinetochore linker proteins during fungal evolution, with the discovery of a bridgin protein that plays a role in connecting the outer kinetochore to centromeric chromatin for accurate chromosome segregation. Bridgin, identified in a basidiomycete and human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, represents a new family of kinetochore proteins and suggests an ancient divergent strategy to bridge these two structures.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lakshmi Sreekumar, Kiran Kumari, Krishnendu Guin, Asif Bakshi, Neha Varshney, Bhagya C. Thimmappa, Leelavati Narlikar, Ranjith Padinhateeri, Rahul Siddharthan, Kaustuv Sanyal
Summary: The establishment and propagation of centromeric chromatin in most eukaryotes are mediated by epigenetic mechanisms. Determinants such as DNA replication origins, origin binding proteins, and replication timing of centromere DNA play crucial roles in centromere function. In the yeast Candida albicans, Orc4 is abundantly present at all centromeres, with early replicating Orc4-bound regions interacting stronger with themselves than with late replicating regions. Orc4, Mcm2, and Scm3 are essential for maintaining centromeric chromatin stability and CENPA recruitment in C. albicans.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jitendra Thakur, Jenika Packiaraj, Steven Henikoff
Summary: Satellite DNA is composed of tandem repeats that are involved in cellular processes such as chromosome segregation. Most satellite DNA sequences are found at chromosome ends and exhibit high repetitiveness. While satellite DNA is often absent in genome assemblies, some sequences can be transcribed into non-coding RNAs, influencing their function.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Olivia Morrison, Jitendra Thakur
Summary: Chromatin is composed of DNA and histone proteins and is important for packaging DNA and regulating DNA metabolic pathways. It is categorized into euchromatin (active transcription), heterochromatin (silencing), and centromeric chromatin (chromosome segregation).
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Md Hashim Reza, Rajesh Patkar, Kaustuv Sanyal
Summary: The research reveals that the ion transporter protein Mnr2 in Magnaporthe cells is dynamically distributed as puncta on the vacuolar membrane, closely associated with filamentous mitochondria in older cells. Loss of Mnr2 can lead to loss of integrity of mitochondria and vacuoles in older cells, while exogenously added Mg+2 can restore mitochondrial structure and prolong cell lifespan.
MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Aakanksha Sane, Shreyas Sridhar, Kaustuv Sanyal, Santanu K. Ghosh
Summary: Shugoshin proteins are evolutionarily conserved and play various roles in maintaining genomic stability in different cells, including regulating chromosome positioning, maintaining chromosomal separation efficiency, and serving as a component of the spindle assembly checkpoint to ensure cell stability. This study in Candida albicans reveals novel functions of Shugoshin, such as facilitating timely disassembly of the mitotic spindle and prolonging the response to improper kinetochore-microtubule attachments.
MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Cell Biology
Kaitlyn Morgan Heyt, Jitendra Thakur
Summary: Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play a crucial role in regulating cellular mechanisms by modifying chromatin structure and organization, which in turn affects DNA accessibility and gene transcription. They are involved in various epigenetic processes across different organisms, such as heterochromatin maintenance and formation, dosage compensation, transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, and centromere inheritance.
Article
Microbiology
Aswathy Narayanan, Pavitra Selvakumar, Rahul Siddharthan, Kaustuv Sanyal
Summary: This study identifies unique DNA sequence junctions specific to each of the four major clades of Candida auris, a multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen. A rapid and specific colony PCR-based clade-identification system is developed based on these unique sequences. The use of clade-specific sequences for clade-typing is proven to be effective.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Priya Jaitly, Melanie Legrand, Abhijit Das, Tejas Patel, Murielle Chauvel, Corinne Maufrais, Christophe d'Enfert, Kaustuv Sanyal
Summary: Chromosomal instability caused by cell division errors in fungal pathogens is associated with antifungal drug resistance. In this study, potential mechanisms of such instability were identified through an overexpression screen in Candida albicans. Six chromosomal stability (CSA) genes were discovered, one of which, CSA6, is restricted to the CUG-Ser fungal clade and could be explored as a potential antifungal target.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Aswathy Narayanan, Praveen Kumar, Anshu Chauhan, Mohit Kumar, Kusum Yadav, Atanu Banerjee, Ravi Datta Sharma, Shivaprakash M. Rudramurthy, Arunaloke Chakrabarti, Kaustuv Sanyal, Rajendra Prasad
Summary: Fungal pathogens, including the superbug C. auris, develop drug resistance through various mechanisms, such as gene mutations, gene amplification, and altered gene expression. This study investigates the mechanisms of drug resistance in C. auris by evolving a drug-susceptible isolate in the presence of an antifungal compound. The findings reveal both aneuploidy-driven and aneuploidy-independent mechanisms operating in drug-resistant isolates.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rima Singha, Rashi Aggarwal, Kaustuv Sanyal
Summary: The CUG-Ser1 clade-specific histone H3 variant (H3V(CTG)) is a negative regulator of planktonic to biofilm growth transition in Candida albicans. The CAF-1 chaperone complex, specifically the Cac1 and Cac2 subunits, is involved in loading H3V(CTG) and its absence leads to increased filamentation and robust biofilm formation. The HIRA chaperone complex does not play a significant role in biofilm growth.
MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Marco A. Coelho, Giuseppe Ianiri, Marcia David-Palma, Bart Theelen, Rohit Goyal, Aswathy Narayanan, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Kaustuv Sanyal, Teun Boekhout, Joseph Heitman
Summary: Fungi in the genus Malassezia, which are commonly found on the skin of humans and other warm-blooded animals, have been linked to skin diseases and systemic disorders. Analysis of Malassezia genomes suggests that their ability to adapt to the skin microenvironment is directly influenced by their genetic makeup. Despite the absence of observed sexual reproduction, the presence of mating/meiotic genes suggests a potential for sexual reproduction in Malassezia. The arrangement of mating type loci in Malassezia has been found to be different from other basidiomycetes, indicating an ancestral state of the genus.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Priya Brahma, Rashi Aggarwal, Kaustuv Sanyal
Summary: Candida albicans can switch to filamentous forms and form biofilms, with a significant reduction in nucleosome count and a more open chromatin state in biofilm cells. A histone H3 variant called H3V(CTG) acts as a negative regulator of biofilm growth in Candida albicans.
Article
Biology
Sundar Ram Sankaranarayanan, Satya Dev Polisetty, Kuladeep Das, Arti Dumbrepatil, Bethan Medina-Pritchard, Martin Singleton, A. Arockia Jeyaprakash, Kaustuv Sanyal
Summary: The conserved arginine residue in the Dad2 subunit of the Dam1 complex shows a reduced requirement for chromosome biorientation and mitotic progression with increasing centromere length, which can be achieved by conditional elevation of kinetochore protein expression.
LIFE SCIENCE ALLIANCE
(2023)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Saptarshi Chatterjee, Subhendu Som, Neha Varshney, P. V. S. Satyadev, Kaustuv Sanyal, Raja Paul
Summary: The dynamic process of mitotic spindle assembly is complex and involves multiple inter-dependent interactions. In the fungal kingdom, multiple visible microtubule organizing centers coalesce into a single focus before forming the mitotic spindle, promoting MTOC clustering through a search and capture model. Various mechanisms, including interactions between cMTs and the cell cortex, as well as inter-cMT coupling, facilitate MTOC clustering within a physiological time limit.
