title: The Histone Variant H3.3 in Transcriptional Regulation and Human Disease.
abstract: Histone proteins wrap around DNA to form nucleosomes, which further compact into the higher-order structure of chromatin. In addition to the canonical histones, there are also variant histones that often have pivotal roles in regulating chromatin dynamics and in the accessibility of the underlying DNA. H3.3 is the most common non-centromeric variant of histone H3 that differs from the canonical H3 by just 4-5 aa. Here, we discuss the current knowledge of H3.3 in transcriptional regulation and the recent discoveries and molecular mechanisms of H3.3 mutations in human cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Center for Cancer Epigenetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Leilei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Center for Cancer Epigenetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Center for Cancer Epigenetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA; The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: xbshi@mdanderson.org.
authors.forename: Xiaobing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D050505:Mutant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones; D050505:Mutant Proteins
keywords: DAXX; H3.3; HIRA; epigenetics; human cancer