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HISTONES

Histones are proteins that package DNA into nucleosomes and chromosomes, making DNA small enough to fit inside cells. They work by winding DNA around themselves, allowing a single cell's DNA to be compressed from 1.8 meters to 90 millimeters in length. Histones play a key role in gene expression by assisting in the conversion of genetic information into functional cell structures. There are five types of histones that make up the core and linker regions of the nucleosome, the basic unit of chromatin. DNA wraps around the core histones 1.65 times in a specific structure involving histone dimers and tetramers. Nonhistone proteins also play essential structural and regulatory roles within chromatin, such as forming scaffolds, and are needed to

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125 views2 pages

HISTONES

Histones are proteins that package DNA into nucleosomes and chromosomes, making DNA small enough to fit inside cells. They work by winding DNA around themselves, allowing a single cell's DNA to be compressed from 1.8 meters to 90 millimeters in length. Histones play a key role in gene expression by assisting in the conversion of genetic information into functional cell structures. There are five types of histones that make up the core and linker regions of the nucleosome, the basic unit of chromatin. DNA wraps around the core histones 1.65 times in a specific structure involving histone dimers and tetramers. Nonhistone proteins also play essential structural and regulatory roles within chromatin, such as forming scaffolds, and are needed to

Uploaded by

Afrid Baig
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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HISTONES

Histones are proteins that provide an essential structure to DNA, making life possible. These proteins function
as spools about which DNA winds. A single cell’s worth of unwound human chromosomal DNA, for example,
would stretch about 1.8 meters. Thanks to histones, the wound up, “compressed” DNA takes up only about 90
millimeters of space. Without histones, DNA could not organize into chromosomes, and life as we know it
would not exist.” Furthermore, histones play a role in gene regulation. As part of chromatin, histones assist in
the control of “expression,” that process by which the coded information in genes is converted into the
operational structures in the cell.

Function

Their function is to package DNA into structural units called nucleosomes. Histones are the main proteins in
chromatin. Chromatin is a combination of DNA and protein which makes up the contents of a cell nucleus.
Because DNA wraps around histones, they also play a role in gene regulation.

Types of Histones

There are five families of histones (H1 through H5). H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 are the core histones, and H1 and
H5 are the linker histones. The core histones form the center of the nucleosome, hence the term 'core.' The
linker histones are found at the entrance and exit sites of the nucleosome and lock the DNA in place, hence the
term 'linker.'

A strand of DNA will wrap around the core histones 1.65 times. Interactions between nucleosomes allow for
higher-order structures to form. These higher-order structures can condense the chromatin to the point where
chromosomes form. Chromosomes are found in the nucleus and contain genes. The familiar shape of a
chromosome is that of an X. It is histones that make this familiar structure possible.

Specific Nucleosome Structure

Histones form dimers and tetramers. Dimers have two histones, and tetramers have four histones. Each
nucleosome has two identical dimers, each comprised of one H2A and one H2B histone. This is called a H2A-
H2B dimer. Each nucleosome also has one tetramer comprised of two H3 and two H4 histones. This is then
called a H3 – H4 histone. The individual histones and DNA forms a nucleosome.

NONHISTONES
A nonhistone is a “protein remaining in chromatin after the histones are removed.” This simple statement
doesn’t do justice to the important role nonhistones play. Nonhistone proteins include scaffold proteins,
Heterochromatin Protein 1, DNA polymerase, and Polycomb, and other motor proteins, all of which play
essential roles in cell structure. In fact, nonhistones provide the scaffold structure of DNA and complete
numerous other structural and regulatory functions that make life possible.
Histones cannot work alone. Histone proteins can complete their functions only in the presence of nonhistone
proteins. Yet histone proteins differ from nonhistones in that histone proteins are highly conserved across
species, whereas nonhistones are not. In other words, the histone proteins found in one species are typically
found in other species. Both proteins are essential to biology, both are found within living cells, both provide
structure to DNA, but the ways in which they operate differ significantly.

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