Structure and dynamic organization of centromeres/prekinetochores in the nucleus of mammalian cells

Abstract

Although considerable research has been focused on understanding the structure and molecular organization of the centromere-kinetochore complex of mitotic chromosomes, few reports have dealt with the centromere (prekinetochore) in the interphase nucleus. In the present study, we utilized anti-centromere antibodies from the serum of patients with the autoimmune disease, scleroderma CREST (calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, esophageal dismotility, sclerodactyly, telangiectasia), as probes to investigate the structure and morphogenesis of the centromere in interphase nuclei of three cell lines using laser scanning confocal microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy. Of particular interest were the chromosomes of the Indian muntjac (2n = 6 in females and 2n = 7 in males), whose large centromeres are thought to have evolved through the tandem fusion of smaller centromeres of a Chinese muntjac-like progenitor species (2n = 46). The various forms and patterns of centromeres observed in the nucleus correlated with stages in the cell cycle as determined by bromodeoxyuridine labeling and apparently represent stages in prereplication, replication and maturation. Immunoelectron microscopic studies using CREST antisera indicated that the high order structure of chromatin associated with each prekinetochore undergoes a regular unfolding-refolding cycle, displaying small bead-like subunits tandemly arranged along a linear thread of centromeric DNA, much like that reported for mitotic chromosomes. Individual centromeres/prekinetochores form a stable association with the 9-13 nm core filaments of the nucleoskeletal network in the nucleus that later become the chromosome scaffold of mitotic chromosomes. Our findings provide morphological support for the hypothesis that the spatial arrangements of individual centromeres within the nucleus may have influenced centromeric translocations and fusions during chromosome evolution. Therefore, the centromere-kinetochore complex, best known for its essential role in partitioning chromosomes in mitosis and meiosis, may also function in chromosome movements and associations in interphase.