Keeping kinetochores on track

The multiple functions of kinetochores are reflected in their complex composition, with over a hundred different proteins, which self-associate in several functional subcomplexes. Most of these kinetochore proteins were identified over the last 10–12 years using a combination of genetic, cell biological, biochemical, and bioinformatic approaches in various model organisms. The key challenge since then has been to determine the structural architecture of kinetochores, define the functions of its different subcomponents, and understand its regulation, both in response to the rapid changes in microtubule dynamics or to sense erroneous attachments for spindle checkpoint signalling. Here, we present some of the key advances obtained in the last six years on the biology of kinetochores, both through our work and through the work of many other groups studying this exciting structure.