Purification of kinetochores from the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Chromosome segregation relies on forces generated by spindle microtubules that are translated into chromosome movement through interactions with kinetochores, highly conserved macromolecular machines that assemble on a specialized centromeric chromatin structure. Kinetochores not only have to stably attach to growing and shrinking microtubules, but they also need to recruit spindle assembly checkpoint proteins to halt cell cycle progression when there are attachment defects. Even the simplest kinetochore in budding yeast contains more than 50 unique components that are present in multiple copies, totaling more than 250 proteins in a single kinetochore. The complex nature of kinetochores makes it challenging to elucidate the contributions of individual components to its various functions. In addition, it is difficult to manipulate forces in vivo to understand how they regulate kinetochore-microtubule attachments and the checkpoint. To address these issues, we developed a technique to purify kinetochores from budding yeast that can be used to analyze kinetochore functions and composition as well as to reconstitute kinetochore-microtubule attachments in vitro.