Regulation and role of transcription at the centromere.

每个人类细胞都有46条染色体。染色体是在我们所有细胞中携带基因的结构。着丝粒是染色体的重要组成部分。它控制着细胞分裂的过程，并确保复制的染色体平等分裂。着丝粒功能缺陷会导致各种遗传性疾病和癌症的发展。着丝粒的结构是独一无二的，它的性质是由一系列蛋白质和其他未知因素结合在一起决定的。在我们的初步工作中，我们已经证明了一种新的以RNA形式的非蛋白质成分(基因的表达产物)对于关键蛋白质与着丝粒的结合是必不可少的。这种RNA组分的存在和重要性以前从未被怀疑过，它代表了一种令人兴奋的新机制，有助于确定着丝粒的功能和结构完整性。在这个项目中，我们建议研究这种RNA的细节，并定义这种与RNA相关的机制是如何运作的，以确保着丝粒在细胞分裂过程中的正确组装和功能。

Every human cell has 46 chromosomes. Chromosomes are structures that carry genes in all our cells. The centromere is an essential component of a chromosome. It controls the process of cell division, and it ensures the equal division of the duplicated chromosomes. Defects in centromere function can result in various genetic diseases and development of cancers. The structure of the centromere is unique and its properties are determined by an array of proteins and other as yet unknown factors that bind to it. In our preliminary work, we have demonstrated that a novel non-protein component in the form of RNA (which are expressed products of genes) is essential for the binding of key proteins to the centromere. The presence and importance of such an RNA component has not been previously suspected and represents an exciting new mechanism that help to determine the functional and structural integrity of the centromere. In this project, we propose to study the details of this RNA and to define how this RNA-related mechanism operates to ensure the proper assembly and function of the centromere during cell division.