Visualizing kinetochore architecture

Kinetochores are large macromolecular assemblies that link chromosomes to spindle microtubules (MTs) during mitosis. Here we review recent advances in the study of core MT-binding kinetochore complexes using electron microcopy methods in vitro and nanometer-accuracy fluorescence microscopy in vivo. We synthesize these findings in novel three-dimensional models of both the budding yeast and vertebrate kinetochore in different stages of mitosis. There is a growing consensus that kinetochores are highly dynamic, supra-molecular machines that undergo dramatic structural rearrangements in response to MT capture and spindle forces during mitosis.

► We review microtubule-binding kinetochore complexes.
► We highlight studies using electron microscopy in vitro and nanometer-accuracy fluorescence microscopy in vivo.
► We have also generated novel three-dimensional models of both the vertebrate and budding yeast kinetochores.