Division of Life Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Genome. 2021 Apr;64(4):337-346. doi: 10.1139/gen-2020-0094. Epub 2020 Nov 27.
Canonical histones (H2A, H2B, H3, and H4) are present in all eukaryotes where they package genomic DNA and participate in numerous cellular processes, such as transcription regulation and DNA repair. In addition to the canonical histones, there are many histone variants, which have different amino acid sequences, possess tissue-specific expression profiles, and function distinctly from the canonical counterparts. A number of histone variants, including both core histones (H2A/H2B/H3/H4) and linker histones (H1/H5), have been identified to date. Htz1 (H2A.Z) and CENP-A (CenH3) are present from yeasts to mammals, and H3.3 is present from to humans. In addition to the prevalent variants, others like H3.4 (H3t), H2A.Bbd, and TH2B, as well as several H1 variants, are found to be specific to mammals. Among them, H2BFWT, H3.5, H3.X, H3.Y, and H4G are unique to primates (or Hominidae). In this review, we focus on localization and function of primate- or hominidae-specific histone variants.
规范组蛋白（H2A、H2B、H3 和 H4）存在于所有真核生物中，它们包装基因组 DNA 并参与许多细胞过程，如转录调控和 DNA 修复。除了规范组蛋白外，还有许多组蛋白变体，它们具有不同的氨基酸序列，具有组织特异性表达谱，并与规范对应物具有明显不同的功能。迄今为止，已经鉴定出许多组蛋白变体，包括核心组蛋白（H2A/H2B/H3/H4）和连接组蛋白（H1/H5）。Htz1（H2A.Z）和 CENP-A（CenH3）存在于从酵母到哺乳动物的范围内，而 H3.3 存在于从鱼到人类的范围内。除了流行的变体外，其他变体如 H3.4（H3t）、H2A.Bbd 和 TH2B，以及几种 H1 变体，被发现是哺乳动物特有的。其中，H2BFWT、H3.5、H3.X、H3.Y 和 H4G 是灵长类动物（或人科动物）特有的。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍了灵长类动物或人科动物特有的组蛋白变体的定位和功能。
