The histone H1 family: specific members, specific functions?
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Annalisa Izzo
Abstract
The linker histone H1 binds to the DNA entering and exiting the nucleosomal core particle and has an important role in establishing and maintaining higher order chromatin structures. H1 forms a complex family of related proteins with distinct species, tissue and developmental specificity. In higher eukaryotes all H1 variants have the same general structure, consisting of a central conserved globular domain and less conserved N-terminal and C-terminal tails. These tails are moderately conserved among species, but differ among variants, suggesting a specific function for each H1 variant. Due to compensatory mechanisms and to the lack of proper tools, it has been very difficult to study the biological role of individual variants in chromatin-mediated processes. Our knowledge about H1 variants is indeed limited, and in vitro and in vivo observations have often been contradictory. Therefore, H1 variants were considered to be functionally redundant. However, recent knockout studies and biochemical analyses in different organisms have revealed exciting new insights into the specificity and mechanisms of actions of the H1 family members. Here, we collect and compare the available literature about H1 variants and discuss possible specific roles that challenge the concept of H1 being a mere structural component of chromatin and a general repressor of transcription.
©2008 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Highlight: 59th Mosbach Kolloquium
- The role of long non-coding RNAs in chromatin structure and gene regulation: variations on a theme
- The histone H1 family: specific members, specific functions?
- ATP-dependent chromatosome remodeling
- Role of histone modifications in defining chromatin structure and function
- Differential loss of histone H3 isoforms mono-, di- and tri-methylated at lysine 4 during X-inactivation in female embryonic stem cells
- Disentanglement of protease substrate repertoires
- p53-dependent repression of the human MCL-1 gene encoding an anti-apoptotic member of the BCL-2 family: the role of Sp1 and of basic transcription factor binding sites in the MCL-1 promoter
- 5′-End maturation of tRNA in Aquifex aeolicus
- Smurf1 directly targets hPEM-2, a GEF for Cdc42, via a novel combination of protein interaction modules in the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway
- Purification and characterization of natural Ara h 8, the Bet v 1 homologous allergen from peanut, provides a novel isoform
- Human butyrylcholinesterase components differ in aryl acylamidase activity
- Ribosome display and selection of human anti-CD22 scFvs derived from an acute lymphocytic leukemia patient
- Sub-chronic administration of the 11β-HSD1 inhibitor, carbenoxolone, improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in mice with diet-induced obesity
- Inhibitory effect of the sugarcane cystatin CaneCPI-4 on cathepsins B and L and human breast cancer cell invasion
Articles in the same Issue
- Highlight: 59th Mosbach Kolloquium
- The role of long non-coding RNAs in chromatin structure and gene regulation: variations on a theme
- The histone H1 family: specific members, specific functions?
- ATP-dependent chromatosome remodeling
- Role of histone modifications in defining chromatin structure and function
- Differential loss of histone H3 isoforms mono-, di- and tri-methylated at lysine 4 during X-inactivation in female embryonic stem cells
- Disentanglement of protease substrate repertoires
- p53-dependent repression of the human MCL-1 gene encoding an anti-apoptotic member of the BCL-2 family: the role of Sp1 and of basic transcription factor binding sites in the MCL-1 promoter
- 5′-End maturation of tRNA in Aquifex aeolicus
- Smurf1 directly targets hPEM-2, a GEF for Cdc42, via a novel combination of protein interaction modules in the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway
- Purification and characterization of natural Ara h 8, the Bet v 1 homologous allergen from peanut, provides a novel isoform
- Human butyrylcholinesterase components differ in aryl acylamidase activity
- Ribosome display and selection of human anti-CD22 scFvs derived from an acute lymphocytic leukemia patient
- Sub-chronic administration of the 11β-HSD1 inhibitor, carbenoxolone, improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in mice with diet-induced obesity
- Inhibitory effect of the sugarcane cystatin CaneCPI-4 on cathepsins B and L and human breast cancer cell invasion