kinetochore
Noun
Meaning
a specialized condensed region of each chromosome that appears during mitosis where the chromatids are held together to form an X shape
Source: WordNetSynonyms
Hypernyms
Examples
the centromere is difficult to sequence
A kinetochore is a proteinaceous microtubule-binding structure that forms on the chromosomal centromere during late prophase.
In budding yeasts, the centromere region is relatively small (about 125 bp DNA) and contains two highly conserved DNA sequences that serve as binding sites for essential kinetochore proteins.
In this chromatin, the normal histone H3 is replaced with a centromere-specific variant, CENP-A in humans. citation The presence of CENP-A is believed to be important for the assembly of the kinetochore on the centromere.
When a microtubule connects with the kinetochore, the motor activates, using energy from ATP to "crawl" up the tube toward the originating centrosome.
In mitosis, the force of kinetochore microtubules pulling in opposite directions creates tension.