{
  "abstract": "Chromosome segregation is vital. Its disruption can cause aneuploidy, a hallmark of cancer. Centromere protein A (CENP-A) is an important protein during the segregation as it marks the location of the centromere, where the kinetochore assembles for microtubule attachment. Each mammalian centromere contains hundreds of CENP-A nucleosomes, whose spatial arrangement is expected to be critical for kinetochore function and error-free chromosome segregation. However, previous studies--mostly in fixed cells and focused on metaphase--have yielded conflicting results on CENP-A organization. Given the centromere's sub-diffraction size, we used stimulated emission depletion (STED) super-resolution microscopy to visualize the CENP-A organization in both living (about 45 nm resolution) and fixed (about 30 nm resolution) immortalized human retinal pigment epithelial cells (hTERT RPE-1). We found that CENP-A organization does not adopt a single architecture but spans a spectrum from dense clusters to fragmented subclusters, with mitotic stage-dependent abundance and morphology. CENP-A chromatin is most dispersed in prophase, and progressively compacts during prometaphase and metaphase as microtubules attach. In meta- and anaphase predominantly dense organizations are formed, often with a plate-like morphology. Yet, non-dense and non-plate-like organizations persist through metaphase and anaphase, suggesting CENP-A spatial reorganization is heterogeneous during cell division.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "University of Groningen"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "T. C. Q. Burgers"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. J. Dijt"
    },
    {
      "name": "L. Vitrano"
    },
    {
      "name": "G. van den Bogaart"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "R. Vlijm"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/38zmkyaayhqke.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.03.748884",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.748884v1.full",
  "id": "38zmkyaayhqke",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.748884v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "biophysics"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1307|Microtubule and mitosis dynamics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7211893459",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.748884v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-03",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/38zmkyaayhqke.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:55Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.03.748884",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.748884v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "biorxiv:biophysics",
      "subfield": "biophysics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "STED microscopy reveals mitotic stage-dependent CENP-A organization",
  "title_text": "STED microscopy reveals mitotic stage-dependent CENP-A organization",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:55Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/38zmkyaayhqke",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}