1. Academic Validation
  2. Dynamic phosphorylation of CENP-A at Ser68 orchestrates its cell-cycle-dependent deposition at centromeres

Dynamic phosphorylation of CENP-A at Ser68 orchestrates its cell-cycle-dependent deposition at centromeres

  • Dev Cell. 2015 Jan 12;32(1):68-81. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2014.11.030.
Zhouliang Yu 1 Xiang Zhou 2 Wenjing Wang 2 Wenqiang Deng 1 Junnan Fang 1 Hao Hu 1 Zichen Wang 2 Shangze Li 3 Lei Cui 4 Jing Shen 2 Linhui Zhai 5 Shengyi Peng 6 Jiemin Wong 7 Shuo Dong 8 Zengqiang Yuan 9 Guangshuo Ou 2 Xiaodong Zhang 3 Ping Xu 5 Jizhong Lou 10 Na Yang 2 Ping Chen 2 Rui-Ming Xu 2 Guohong Li 11
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
  • 2 National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
  • 3 College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, China.
  • 4 National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Laboratory of Noncoding RNAs, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, Beijing Proteome Research Center, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 102206, China.
  • 6 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
  • 7 Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
  • 8 Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
  • 9 State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
  • 10 Laboratory of Noncoding RNAs, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
  • 11 National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract

The H3 histone variant CENP-A is an epigenetic marker critical for the centromere identity and function. However, the precise regulation of the spatiotemporal deposition and propagation of CENP-A at centromeres during the cell cycle is still poorly understood. Here, we show that CENP-A is phosphorylated at Ser68 during early mitosis by CDK1. Our results demonstrate that phosphorylation of Ser68 eliminates the binding of CENP-A to the assembly factor HJURP, thus preventing the premature loading of CENP-A to the centromere prior to mitotic exit. Because CDK1 activity is at its minimum at the mitotic exit, the ratio of CDK1/PP1α activity changes in favor of Ser68 dephosphorylation, thus making CENP-A available for centromeric deposition by HJURP. Thus, we reveal that dynamic phosphorylation of CENP-A Ser68 orchestrates the spatiotemporal assembly of newly synthesized CENP-A at active centromeres during the cell cycle.

Figures