Esperanto for histones: CENP-A, not CenH3, is the centromeric histone H3 variant

• Main Author: Earnshaw, W. C.
• Publication Date: 2013
• Other Authors: Allshire, R. C., Black, B. E., Bloom, K., Brinkley, B. R., Brown, W., Cheeseman, I. M., Choo, K. H. A., Copenhaver, G. P., DeLuca, J. G., Desai, A., Diekmann, S., Erhardt, S., Fitzgerald-Hayes, M., Foltz, D., Fukagawa, T., Gassmann, R., Gerlich, D. W., Glover, D. M., Gorbsky, G. J., Harrison, S. C., Heun, P., Hirota, T., Jansen, L. E. T., Karpen, G., Kops, G. J. P. L., Lampson, M. A., Lens, S. M., Losada, A., Luger, K., Maiato, H., Maddox, P. S., Margolis, R. L., Masumoto, H., McAinsh, A. D., Mellone, B. G., Meraldi, P., Musacchio, A., Oegema, K., O’Neill, R. J., Salmon, E. D., Scott, K. C., Straight, A. F., Stukenberg, P. T., Sullivan, B. A., Sullivan, K. F., Sunkel, C. E., Swedlow, J. R., Walczak, C. E., Warburton, P. E., Westermann, S., Willard, H. F., Wordeman, L., Yanagida, M., Yen, T. J., Yoda, K., Cleveland, D. W.
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.7/805
• topic: centromere; CENP-A; histone; kinetochore; CenH3

The first centromeric protein identified in any species was CENP-A, a divergent member of the histone H3 family that was recognised by autoantibodies from patients with scleroderma-spectrum disease. It has recently been suggested to rename this protein CenH3. Here, we argue that the original name should be maintained both because it is the basis of a long established nomenclature for centromere proteins and because it avoids confusion due to the presence of canonical histone H3 at centromeres.