Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026

Extraction of Histones from Clinical Specimens for Epigenetic Profiling by Mass Spectrometry
Published on: November 21, 2025
The atypical histone macroH2A1.2 interacts with HER-2 protein in cancer cells
Xiufen Li1, Jinqiu Kuang, Yi Shen
1Department of Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, USA.
Abstract:
Because HER-2 has been demonstrated in the nuclei of cancer cells, we hypothesized that it might interact with transcription factors that activate ERBB2 transcription. Macrohistone 2A1 (H2AFY; mH2A1) was found to interact with HER-2 in cancer cells that overexpress HER-2. Of the two human mH2A1 isoforms, mH2A1.2, but not mH2A1.1, interacted with HER-2 in human cancer cell lines. Overexpression of mH2A1.2, but not mH2A1.1, in cancer cells significantly increased HER-2 expression and tumorigenicity. Inhibition of HER-2 kinase activity diminished mH2A1 expression and mH2A1.2-induced ERBB2 transcription in cancer cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation of mH2A1.2 in cancer cells stably transfected with mH2A1.2 showed enrichment of mH2A1.2 at the HER-2 promoter, suggesting a role for mH2A1.2 in driving HER-2 overexpression. The evolutionarily conserved macro domain of mH2A1.2 was sufficient for the interaction between HER-2 and mH2A1.2 and for mH2A1.2-induced ERBB2 transcription. Within the macro domain of mH2A1.2, a trinucleotide insertion (-EIS-) sequence not found in mH2A1.1 was essential for the interaction between HER-2 and mH2A1.2 as well as mH2A1.2-induced HER-2 expression and cell proliferation.
Related Concept Videos
Histone Variants at the Centromere
Abnormal Proliferation
Histone Modification
Acetylation
The enzyme histone acetyltransferase adds acetyl group to the histones. Another enzyme, histone deacetylase,...
Histone Modification
Acetylation
The enzyme histone acetyltransferase adds acetyl group to the histones. Another enzyme, histone deacetylase,...
lncRNA - Long Non-coding RNAs
Cadherins in Tissue Organization
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...

