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. 2013 Apr;21(2):101-6.
doi: 10.1007/s10577-013-9347-y. Epub 2013 Apr 12.

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

W C Earnshaw  1 , R C Allshire, B E Black, K Bloom, B R Brinkley, W Brown, I M Cheeseman, K H A Choo, G P Copenhaver, J G Deluca, A Desai, S Diekmann, S Erhardt, M Fitzgerald-Hayes, D Foltz, T Fukagawa, R Gassmann, D W Gerlich, D M Glover, G J Gorbsky, S C Harrison, P Heun, T Hirota, L E T Jansen, G Karpen, G J P L Kops, M A Lampson, S M Lens, A Losada, K Luger, H Maiato, P S Maddox, R L Margolis, H Masumoto, A D McAinsh, B G Mellone, P Meraldi, A Musacchio, K Oegema, R J O'Neill, E D Salmon, K C Scott, A F Straight, P T Stukenberg, B A Sullivan, K F Sullivan, C E Sunkel, J R Swedlow, C E Walczak, P E Warburton, S Westermann, H F Willard, L Wordeman, M Yanagida, T J Yen, K Yoda, D W Cleveland
Affiliations

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

W C Earnshaw et al. Chromosome Res. 2013 Apr.

Abstract

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.

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