The histone H3 variant CENP-A is required for epigenetic specification of centromere identity through a loading mechanism independent of DNA sequence. Using multiphoton absorption and DNA cleavage at unique sites by I-SceI endonuclease, we demonstrate that CENP-A is rapidly recruited to double-strand breaks in DNA, along with three components (CENP-N, CENP-T, and CENP-U) associated with CENP-A at centromeres. The centromere-targeting domain of CENP-A is both necessary and sufficient for recruitment to double-strand breaks. CENP-A accumulation at DNA breaks is enhanced by active non-homologous end-joining but does not require DNA-PKcs or Ligase IV, and is independent of H2AX. Thus, induction of a double-strand break is sufficient to recruit CENP-A in human and mouse cells. Finally, since cell survival after radiation-induced DNA damage correlates with CENP-A expression level, we propose that CENP-A may have a function in DNA repair.

Using new methods for the parallel solution of elliptic partial differential equations, the teraflops computing power of massively parallel computers can be leveraged to perform electrostatic calculations on large biological systems. This paper describes the adaptive multilevel finite element solution of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation for a microtubule on the NPACI IBM Blue Horizon supercomputer. The microtubule system is 40 nm in length and 24 nm in diameter, consists of roughly 600,000 atoms, and has a net charge of-1800 e. Poisson-Boltzmann calculations are performed for several processor configurations and the algorithm shows excellent parallel scaling.

This paper is the first of two papers on the adaptive multilevel finite element treatment of the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation (PBE), a nonlinear elliptic equation arising in biomolecular modeling. Fast and accurate numerical solution of the PBE is usually difficult to accomplish, due to presence of discontinuous coefficients, delta functions, three spatial dimensions, unbounded domain, and rapid (exponential) nonlinearity. In this first paper, we explain how adaptive multilevel finite element methods can be used to obtain extremely accurate solutions to the PBE with very modest computational resources, and we present some illustrative examples using two well-known test problems. The PBE is first discretized with piecewise linear finite elements over a very coarse simplex triangulation of the domain. The resulting nonlinear algebraic equations are solved with global inexact-Newton methods, which we have described in a paper appearing previously in this journal [55]. A posteriori error estimates are then computed from this discrete solution, which then drives a simplex subdivision algorithm for performing adaptive mesh refinement. The discretize-solve-estimate-refine procedure is then repeated, until a nearly uniform solution quality is obtained. The sequence of unstructured meshes is used to apply multilevel methods in conjunction with global inexact-Newton methods, so that the cost of solving the nonlinear algebraic equations at each step approaches optimal O(N ) linear complexity. All of the numerical procedures are implemented in Manifold Code (MC), a computer program designed and built by the first author over several years at Caltech and UC San Diego. MC is designed solve a very general class of nonlinear elliptic equations on complicated domains in two and three dimensions. We describe some of the key features of MC, and give a detailed analysis of its performance for two model PBE problems, with comparisons to the alternative methods. It is shown that the best available uniform-mesh-based finite difference or box-method algorithms, including multilevel methods, require substantially more time to reach a target PBE solution accuracy than the adaptive multilevel methods in MC. In the second paper [6], we develop an error estimator based on geometric solvent accessibility, and present a series of detailed numerical experiments for several complex biomolecules.

Genome maintenance is ensured by a variety of biochemical sensors and pathways that repair accumulated damage. During mitosis, the mechanisms that sense and resolve DNA damage remain elusive. Studies have demonstrated that damage accumulated on lagging chromosomes can activate the spindle assembly checkpoint. However, there is little known regarding damage to DNA after anaphase onset. In this study, we demonstrate that laser-induced damage to chromosome tips (presumptive telomeres) in anaphase of Potorous tridactylis cells (PtK2) inhibits cytokinesis. In contrast, equivalent irradiation of non-telomeric chromosome regions or control irradiations in either the adjacent cytoplasm or adjacent to chromosome tips near the spindle midzone during anaphase caused no change in the eventual completion of cytokinesis. Damage to only one chromosome tip caused either complete absence of furrow formation, a prolonged delay in furrow formation, or furrow regression. When multiple chromosome tips were irradiated in the same cell, the cytokinesis defects increased, suggesting a potential dose-dependent mechanism. These results suggest a mechanism in which dysfunctional telomeres inhibit mitotic exit.

This study investigates spindle biomechanical properties to better understand how spindles function. In this report, laser microbeam cutting across mitotic spindles resulted in movement of spindle poles toward the spindle equator. The pole on the cut side moved first, the other pole moved later, resulting in a shorter but symmetric spindle. Intervening spindle microtubules bent and buckled during the equatorial movement of the poles. Because of this and because there were no detectable microtubules within the ablation zone, other cytoskeletal elements would seem to be involved in the equatorial movement of the poles. One possibility is actin and myosin since pharmacological poisoning of the actin-myosin system altered the equatorial movements of both irradiated and unirradiated poles. Immunofluorescence microscopy confirmed that actin, myosin and monophosphorylated myosin are associated with spindle fibers and showed that some actin and monophosphorylated myosin remained in the irradiated regions. Overall, our experiments suggest that actin, myosin and microtubules interact to control spindle length. We suggest that actin and myosin, possibly in conjunction with the spindle matrix, cause the irradiated pole to move toward the equator and that cross-talk between the two half spindles causes the unirradiated pole to move toward the equator until a balanced length is obtained.