Centromere protein A (CENP-A) is a histone H3 variant that specifies centromere location. Their reduced height relative to canonical H3 nucleosomes suggested that CENP-A nucleosomes might be tetrameric, but new biophysical measurements of reconstituted nucleosomes show that CENP-A confers a reduction in height on octameric CENP-A nucleosomes.
- Matthew D D Miell
- Colin J Fuller
- Robin C Allshire