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A blueprint for kinetochores — new insights into the molecular mechanics of cell division

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 12, pages 407–412 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Kinetochores are large proteinaceous complexes that physically link centromeric DNA to the plus ends of spindle microtubules. Stable kinetochore–microtubule attachments are a prerequisite for the accurate and efficient distribution of genetic material over multiple generations. In the past decade, concerted research has resulted in the identification of the individual kinetochore building blocks, the characterization of critical microtubule-interacting components, such as the NDC80 complex, and the development of an approximate model of the architecture of this sophisticated biological machine.

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Figure 1: General and budding yeast kinetochore organization.
Figure 2: Possible configurations of Ndc80 and Dam1 complexes at the yeast kinetochore.

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Acknowledgements

The Westermann laboratory receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (S.W., FP7/2007-2013; ERC grant agreement number 203499) and from the Austrian Science Fund FWF (S.W., SFB F34-B03).

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  1. Fabienne Lampert and Stefan Westermann are at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Dr. Bohr Gasse 7, 1030 Vienna, Austria.,

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Correspondence to Stefan Westermann.

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Lampert, F., Westermann, S. A blueprint for kinetochores — new insights into the molecular mechanics of cell division. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 12, 407–412 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm3133

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