Preserving centromere identity: right amounts of CENP-A at the right place and time

Four decades ago, the discovery of centromere protein-A (CENP-A) marked a pivotal breakthrough in chromosome biology, revealing the epigenetic foundation of centromere identity. CENP-A, a histone H3 variant, directs the formation of the microtubule-binding kinetochore complex, designating the chromosomal site for its assembly and underpins the accurate partitioning of genetic material during cell division. Errors in cell division can give rise to DNA instability and aneuploidy, implicated in human diseases such as cancer. Therefore, discovering the underlying pathways and mechanisms responsible for the formation, regulation and maintenance of the centromere is important to our understanding of genome stability, epigenetic inheritance, and in providing the knowledge to help generate possible treatments and therapeutics. Here, we review various molecular pathways and mechanisms implicated in maintaining centromere identity and highlight some of the key outstanding questions with a focus on the human centromere.