Moving and stopping: Regulation of chromosome movement to promote meiotic chromosome pairing and synapsis

Meiosis is a specialized cellular division occurring in organisms capable of sexual reproduction that leads to the formation of gametes containing half of the original chromosome number. During the earliest stage of meiosis, prophase I, pairing of homologous chromosomes is achieved in preparation for their proper distribution in the coming divisions. An important question is how do homologous chromosomes find each other and establish pairing interactions. Early studies demonstrated that chromosomes are dynamic in nature and move during this early stage of meiosis. More recently, there have been several studies across different models showing the conserved nature and importance of this chromosome movement, as well as the key components involved in chromosome movement. This review will cover these major findings and also introduce unexamined areas of regulation in meiotic prophase I chromosome movement.

减数分裂是发生在有性生殖生物中的一种特殊细胞分裂方式，它导致形成的配子含有原始染色体数目的一半。在减数分裂的最早阶段，即前期I，同源染色体配对，为它们在接下来的分裂中正确分配做准备。一个重要的问题是同源染色体如何找到彼此并建立配对相互作用。早期研究表明，染色体本质上是动态的，在减数分裂的这个早期阶段会移动。最近，在不同的模型中有多项研究表明了这种染色体移动的保守性和重要性，以及参与染色体移动的关键成分。这篇综述将涵盖这些主要发现，并介绍减数分裂前期I染色体移动中尚未研究的调控领域。