Deposition of new CENPA-containing nucleosomes at the centromere

Deposition of new CENPA-containing nucleosomes at the centromere Eukaryotic centromeres are marked by a unique form of histone H3, designated CENPA in humans. In human cells newly synthesized CENPA is deposited in nucleosomes at the centromere during late telophase/early G1 phase of the cell cycle. Once deposited, nucleosomes containing CENPA remain stably associated with the centromere and are partitioned equally to daughter centromeres during S phase. A current model proposes that pre-existing CENPA at the centromere drives recruitment of new CENPA, however this has not been proved.
The deposition process requires at least 3 complexes: the Mis18 complex, HJURP complex, and the RSF complex. HJURP binds newly synthesized CENPA-H4 tetramers before deposition and brings them to the centromere for deposition in new CENPA-containing nucleosomes. The exact mechanism of deposition remains unknown.