Chaperoning the histone H3 family

Chromatin is a highly dynamic nucleoprotein structure, which orchestrates all nuclear process from DNA replication to DNA repair, from transcription to recombination. The proper in vivo assembly of nucleosome, the basic repeating unit of chromatin, requires the deposition of two H3–H4 dimer pairs followed by the addition of two dimers of H2A and H2B. Histone chaperones are responsible for delivery of histones to the site of chromatin assembly and histone deposition onto DNA, histone exchange and removal. Distinct factors have been found associated with different histone H3 variants, which facilitate their deposition. Unraveling the mechanism of histone deposition by specific chaperones is of key importance to epigenetic regulation. In this review, we focus on histone H3 variants and their deposition mechanisms. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled:Histone chaperones and Chromatin assembly.

► In this review, we focus on the mechanism of histone H3 variants deposition.
► We highlight the role of histone chaperones in their incorporation to chromatin.
► We discuss how H3 variants contribute to marking specific chromosomal domains.