Figure 1. Scheme of how deprotection of centromeric cohesin is brought about through a combination of PP2A inhibition by I2PP2A and bipolar tension applied on sister kinetochores in meiosis II. In metaphase I, I2PP2A (in red) is localized to the centromere region, but does not colocalize with the three PP2A subunits constituting active PP2A (yellow). In metaphase II, I2PP2A is found exactly where centromeric cohesin (gray bars) remains. It is therefore localized exactly where PP2A has to be inhibited to avoid dephosphorylation of Rec8. In late metaphase II, bipolar tension applied on sister kinetochores moves potentially remaining PP2A complexes that are still free of inhibitory I2PP2A further away from Rec8. Cohesins, black bars; cohesins not visible due to PP2A or I2PP2A localization, gray bars; Rec8, unphosphorylated Rec8; Rec8-P, phosphorylated Rec8 that can be cleaved by separase; MTs, microtubules.