Print Email Facebook Twitter CENP-A and H3 Nucleosomes Display a Similar Stability to Force-Mediated Disassembly Title CENP-A and H3 Nucleosomes Display a Similar Stability to Force-Mediated Disassembly Author Kim, S.H. (TU Delft BN/Cees Dekker Lab; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft) Vlijm, R. (TU Delft BN/Cees Dekker Lab; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft) van der Torre, J. (TU Delft BN/Technici en Analisten; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft) Dalal, Y. (National Cancer Institute) Dekker, C. (TU Delft BN/Cees Dekker Lab; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft) Date 2016 Abstract Centromere-specific nucleosomes are a central feature of the kinetochore complex during mitosis, in which microtubules exert pulling and pushing forces upon the centromere. CENP-A nucleosomes have been assumed to be structurally unique, thereby providing resilience under tension relative to their H3 canonical counterparts. Here, we directly test this hypothesis by subjecting CENP-A and H3 octameric nucleosomes, assembled on random or on centromeric DNA sequences, to varying amounts of applied force by using single-molecule magnetic tweezers. We monitor individual disassembly events of CENP-A and H3 nucleosomes. Regardless of the DNA sequence, the force-mediated disassembly experiments for CENP-A and H3 nucleosomes demonstrate similar rupture forces, life time residency and disassembly steps. From these experiments, we conclude that CENP-A does not, by itself, contribute unique structural features to the nucleosome that lead to a significant resistance against force-mediated disruption. The data present insights into the mechanistic basis for how CENP-A nucleosomes might contribute to the structural foundation of the centromere in vivo. Subject nucleosomessatellite DNAhistonescentromeresmagnetsrepeated sequencesDNA fragment ligationDNA-binding proteinsOA-Fund TU Delft To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4e5c7598-365b-42e3-a7ea-bd5e2f297c44 DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165078 ISSN 1932-6203 Source PLoS ONE, 11 (11) Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2016 S.H. Kim, R. Vlijm, J. van der Torre, Y. Dalal, C. Dekker Files PDF journal.pone.0165078.pdf 1.6 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:4e5c7598-365b-42e3-a7ea-bd5e2f297c44/datastream/OBJ/view