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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Nov 22.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Biol. 2021 Nov 22;31(22):R1491–R1504. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.083

Figure 4. Centromere transcription.

Figure 4.

Diagram depicting two ways that transcription has been shown to influence centromere function. A) In Drosophila, transcription facilitates histone exchange and CENP-A deposition through the destabilizing effect of transcribing RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) and the histone chaperone FACT, which are recruited by the CENP-A assembly factor CAL1. The elongation factor Spt6 prevents loss of pre-existing CENP-A. Analogous findings have been shown in S. pombe and human cells. B) In human cells, α-satellite (α-sat) transcripts localize to their site of origin in cis, promoting centromere integrity and the deposition of new CENP-A.