Inner Centromere Protein (INCENP)

In mammalian cells, 2 broad groups of centromere-interacting proteins have been described: constitutively binding centromere proteins and 'passenger,' or transiently interacting, proteins . The constitutive proteins include CENPA, CENPB, CENPC1, and CENPD. The term 'passenger proteins' encompasses a broad collection of proteins that localize to the centromere during specific stages of the cell cycle . These include CENPE; MCAK ; KID; cytoplasmic dynein ; CliPs; and CENPF/mitosin . The inner centromere proteins (INCENPs) , the initial members of the passenger protein group, display a broad localization along chromosomes in the early stages of mitosis but gradually become concentrated at centromeres as the cell cycle progresses into mid-metaphase.