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No longer a nuisance: long non-coding RNAs join CENP-A in epigenetic centromere regulation

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Abstract

Centromeres represent the basis for kinetochore formation, and are essential for proper chromosome segregation during mitosis. Despite these essential roles, centromeres are not defined by specific DNA sequences, but by epigenetic means. The histone variant CENP-A controls centromere identity epigenetically and is essential for recruiting kinetochore components that attach the chromosomes to the mitotic spindle during mitosis. Recently, a new player in centromere regulation has emerged: long non-coding RNAs transcribed from repetitive regions of centromeric DNA function in regulating centromeres epigenetically. This review summarizes recent findings on the essential roles that transcription, pericentromeric transcripts, and centromere-derived RNAs play in centromere biology.

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Acknowledgments

We apologize to our colleagues whose work on centromeres and repetitive RNA could not be cited due to space limitations. We gratefully acknowledge members of the Erhardt lab for fruitful discussions and Aubry K. Miller for constructive comments on the manuscript and the Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft (ER576 and EXC81) and the Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung for funding our research on centromeres and RNA. SR is an alumna of the Hartmut Hoffmann-Berling International Graduate School of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

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  1. Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Silvana Rošić

  2. ZMBH, DKFZ-ZMBH-Alliance and CellNetworks Excellence Cluster, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 282, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Sylvia Erhardt

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  1. Silvana Rošić
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  2. Sylvia Erhardt
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Correspondence to Sylvia Erhardt.

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Rošić, S., Erhardt, S. No longer a nuisance: long non-coding RNAs join CENP-A in epigenetic centromere regulation. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 73, 1387–1398 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-015-2124-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-015-2124-7

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