Abstract
Ki-67 is highly expressed in proliferating cells, a characteristic that made the protein a very important proliferation marker widely used in the clinic. However, the molecular functions and properties of Ki-67 remained quite obscure for a long time. Only recently important discoveries have shed some light on its function and shown that Ki-67 has a major role in the formation of mitotic chromosome periphery compartment, it is associated with protein phosphatase one (PP1) and regulates chromatin function in interphase and mitosis. In this review, we discuss the role of Ki-67 during cell division. Specifically, we focus on the importance of Ki-67 in chromosome individualisation at mitotic entry (prometaphase) and its contribution to chromosome clustering and nuclear remodelling during mitotic exit.
Highlights
Multicellular organisms are constituted by cells with different functions resulting from the specific gene expression programs characteristic for each cell type that need to be maintained from one generation to the
The genome of proliferating cells undergoes remarkable series of structural changes at mitotic entry that lead to chromosome condensation and the formation of mitotic chromosomes [1,2]
Mitosis begins with prophase: at this stage the condensin complexes drive chromosome condensation that continues until metaphase
Summary
Ki-67 is highly expressed in proliferating cells, a characteristic that made the protein a very important proliferation marker widely used in the clinic. The molecular functions and properties of Ki-67 remained quite obscure for a long time. Recently important discoveries have shed some light on its function and shown that Ki-67 has a major role in the formation of mitotic chromosome periphery compartment, it is associated with protein phosphatase one (PP1) and regulates chromatin function in interphase and mitosis. We discuss the role of Ki-67 during cell division. We focus on the importance of Ki-67 in chromosome individualisation at mitotic entry ( prometaphase) and its contribution to chromosome clustering and nuclear remodelling during mitotic exit
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