cohesin

noun

co·​he·​sin kō-ˈhē-sən 

-zən

plural cohesins

: a ring-shaped protein complex that produces cohesion between sister chromatids and mediates their separation during cell division and that also plays a role in repairing damaged replicated DNA and regulating genetic transcription

At the cell-cycle stage known as anaphase, cohesins are cleaved and cohesion between sister chromatids dissolves, triggering their segregation.

—Paul Megee

Word History

First Known Use

1998, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cohesin

• salicin
• daunorubicin
• doxorubicin
• oleoresin
• gleason

Medical Definition

cohesin

noun

co·​he·​sin kō-ˈhē-sən 

-zən

: a ring-shaped protein complex that produces cohesion between sister chromatids and mediates their separation during cell division and that also plays a role in repairing damaged replicated DNA and regulating genetic transcription

This discovery that cohesin binds to chromatin at discrete sites was one of the first clues that cohesin played roles in cell biology other than enforcing sister chromatid cohesion, because … there would be no obvious need for cohesin to interact with chromatin at discrete, regulated sites if its role was simply to cohere replicated chromosomes.

—Todd Waldman, Nature Reviews