抄録
Centromeres are the chromosome loci for kinetochore assembly. They are attachment sites for microtubules during mitosis. CENP-A is a widely conserved protein, which specifically localizes at centromeres of every chromosomes, and is considered to be a fundamental epigenetic mark for centromeres. Since CENP-A shares high sequence similarity to histone H3, it has been supposed to be incorporated into the centromere-specific nucleosome, instead of histone H3. Recently, we determined the crystal structure of the human nucleosome containing CENP-A, and revealed its structural and functional properties. In this review, recent discoveries pertaining to the centromeric chromatin architecture containing CENP-A are described.
