Centromeric Aberrations
In rare cases in humans, neocentromeres can form at new sites on the chromosome. There are currently over 90 known human neocentromeres identified on 20 different chromosomes. The formation of a neocentromere must be coupled with or followed or proceeded by the inactivation of the centromere since chromosomes with two functional centromeres (Dicentric chromosome) will result in chromosome breakage during mitosis. In some unusual cases human neocentromeres have been observed to form spontaneously on fragmented chromosomes. Some of these new positions were originally euchromatic and lack alpha satellite DNA altogether.
Centromere proteins are also the autoantigenic target for some anti-nuclear antibodies, such as anti-centromere antibodies.
Read more about this topic: Centromere
Famous quotes containing the word aberrations:
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—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)