Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Cohesin's Smc1, Smc3, and kleisin subunits create a tripartite ring within which sister DNAs are entrapped. Evidence suggests that DNA enters through a gate created by transient dissociation of the Smc1/3 interface. Release at the onset of anaphase is triggered by proteolytic cleavage of kleisin. Less well understood is the mechanism of release at other stages of the cell cycle, in particular during prophase when most cohesin dissociates from chromosome arms in a process dependent on the regulatory subunit Wapl. We show here that Wapl-dependent release from salivary gland polytene chromosomes during interphase and from neuroblast chromosome arms during prophase is blocked by translational fusion of Smc3's C-terminus to kleisin's N-terminus. Our findings imply that proteolysis-independent release of cohesin from chromatin is mediated by Wapl-dependent escape of DNAs through a gate created by transient dissociation of the Smc3/kleisin interface. Thus, cohesin's DNA entry and exit gates are distinct.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/emboj.2012.346

Type

Journal article

Journal

EMBO J

Publication Date

06/03/2013

Volume

32

Pages

656 - 665

Keywords

Animals, Animals, Genetically Modified, Blotting, Western, Cell Cycle Proteins, Chromatin, Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone, DNA, Drosophila Proteins, Drosophila melanogaster, Female, Immunoenzyme Techniques, Interphase, Male, Mitosis, Neurons, Polytene Chromosomes, RNA, Messenger, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Salivary Glands