title: Histone variants: nuclear function and disease.
abstract: Histone variants have emerged as important contributors to the regulation of chromatin structure and therefore of almost all DNA-based processes. Hence, these specialized proteins play important roles in transcriptional regulation, cell cycle progression, DNA repair, chromatin stability, chromosome segregation and apoptosis. Due to their evident biological significance, it is not surprising that mutations or the deregulation of their expression levels can have severe implications for cellular functions that ultimately might contribute to or even drive disease development, most notably cancer. Besides the histones themselves, their respective chaperone/remodeling complexes needed for precise variant chromatin deposition, are consequently frequent targets in neoplasms and diverse diseases. In this review, we briefly summarize current understanding on the function of human/mammalian histone variants and their regulatory networks and highlight their roles in cancer development.
authors.affiliation: BioMedical Center, Department of Molecular Biology, LMU Munich, Großhadener Str. 9, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany. Electronic address: lisa-maria.zink@med.uni-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Lisa-Maria
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Zink
authors.affiliation: BioMedical Center, Department of Molecular Biology, LMU Munich, Großhadener Str. 9, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany; Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich, Butenandtstr. 5-13, 81377 Munich, Germany. Electronic address: sandra.hake@med.uni-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Sandra B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Hake
mesh_terms: D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics*; D020090:Chromosome Segregation / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006657:Histones / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones; D004247:DNA