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Location and function of linker histones

Abstract

The linker histones, H1 and its variant forms, have been implicated in the formation of higher orders of chromatin structure and gene repression. Three recent manuscripts have reexamined the location of H1 within the nucleosome particle and its function in the regulation of transcription.

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Figure 1: Alternative hypotheses for the location of H1 on the nucleosome.
Figure 2: Diagrams summarizing two alternative models for the effect of the linker histone on the positioning of histone octamers and the binding of TFIIIA to the 5S rRNA genes.

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Correspondence to Jerry L. Workman.

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Vignali, M., Workman, J. Location and function of linker histones. Nat Struct Mol Biol 5, 1025–1028 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/4133

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