Cell News—Cohesin active site fine tunes chromosome binding

Karyotype color chromosomes. NIH image.

Karyotype color chromosomes. NIH image.

Maintaining the structure of a chromosome during cell division is essential, and problems in chromosome segregation can lead to cancer or birth defects. Cohesin is a protein that binds to DNA to maintain chromosome structure, but it was assumed that its active site worked like an on/off switch for DNA binding. Gamze Çamdere and colleagues in ASCB member Douglas Koshland’s lab at the University of California, Berkeley found that cohesin’s active (ATP-binding) site causes structural rearrangements of the protein already bound to DNA that allow for fine-tuning of its DNA tethering. They also found that two regulators of cohesin (Eco1 and Wpl1) can alter the active site to control its DNA binding activities. Published in eLife.

About the Author: