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Updated: Aug 26, 2026

Immunofluorescence Analysis of Endogenous and Exogenous Centromere-kinetochore Proteins
Published on: March 3, 2016
S phase assembly of centromeric heterochromatin and cohesion
Julie M Bailis1, Susan L Forsburg
1Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Abstract:
Accurate chromosome segregation in mitosis requires cohesion between sister centromeres mediated by heterochromatin. Although establishment of both silent heterochromatin and cohesion require passage through S phase, the mechanism was previously unknown. In our recent paper, we demonstrate that heterochromatin silencing and cohesion at the centromere rely on temporal activation of the conserved S phase protein kinase Hsk1-Dfp1. Hsk1-Dfp1 is needed for heterochromatin assembly downstream of Swi6 binding to chromatin; importantly, this activity is independent of the replication function of Hsk1-Dfp1. This defines a temporal connection between S phase, heterochromatin and cohesion that is independent of replication fork passage.
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