染色体采取特定的构象来调控各种细胞过程。一种被广泛研究的染色体构象是中期高度紧缩的染色体结构。还报道了更多区域染色质构象，包括跨越百万碱基对的拓扑相邻结域和由千余碱基对形成的局部染色质环。在本综述中，我们讨论了体细胞和减数细胞之间的染色质构象变化，重点关注减数分裂开始时称为染色体轴的蛋白质结构的形成。染色体轴对于支持一些关键的减数细胞过程至关重要，如染色体成对、同源重组、平衡染色体分离，以过渡从二倍体到单倍体阶段。我们评述了染色体轴在减数染色质组织中的作用，并详细描述了其蛋白质组成。我们还评述了轴蛋白在减数重组中物种之间的保守和不同作用，这是造成遗传多样性和基因组进化的重要因素。最后，我们讨论了染色体轴被解调的情况，并评估了基因热应激和哺乳动物体细胞中编码轴蛋白的基因在某些癌症类型中异常表达的蛋白质解调带来的基因组完整性效应和后果。版权所有©2023 Elsevier Inc.。保留所有权利。

Chromosomes adopt specific conformations to regulate various cellular processes. A well-documented chromosome configuration is the highly compacted chromosome structure during metaphase. More regional chromatin conformations have also been reported, including topologically associated domains encompassing mega-bases of DNA and local chromatin loops formed by kilo-bases of DNA. In this review, we discuss the changes in chromatin conformation taking place between somatic and meiotic cells, with a special focus on the establishment of a proteinaceous structure, called the chromosome axis, at the beginning of meiosis. The chromosome axis is essential to support key meiotic processes such as chromosome pairing, homologous recombination, and balanced chromosome segregation to transition from a diploid to a haploid stage. We review the role of the chromosome axis in meiotic chromatin organization and provide a detailed description of its protein composition. We also review the conserved and distinct roles between species of axis proteins in meiotic recombination, which is a major factor contributing to the creation of genetic diversity and genome evolution. Finally, we discuss situations where the chromosome axis is deregulated and evaluate the effects on genome integrity and the consequences from protein deregulation in meiocytes exposed to heat stress, and aberrant expression of genes encoding axis proteins in mammalian somatic cells associated with certain types of cancers.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.