Penn team finds protein 'cement' that stabilizes the crossroad of chromosomes

(University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) A new study describes how the centromere is stabilized during replication. The structure and biology of the centromere is of considerable scientific interest because problems with it can lead to abnormalities in the chromosomes of daughter cells, which are the basis of such disorders as Down syndrome. As it turns out, the centromere is distinguished not only by its DNA sequence but also by a special type of nucleosome, which includes a protein called CENP-A.
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news