Inheritance of Histone (H3/H4): A Binary Choice?
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Updated: Dec 9, 2025

Isolation and Cultivation of Neural Progenitors Followed by Chromatin-Immunoprecipitation of Histone 3 Lysine 79 Dimethylation Mark
Published on: January 26, 2018
Nicole J Francis1, Djamouna Sihou2
1Institut de Recherche Clinique de Montréal, 110 Avenue des Pins, Montréal, QC H2W 1R7, Canada; Département de Biochimie et Médecine Moléculaire, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7, Canada; Division of Experimental Medicine, McGill University, 1001 Decarie Boulevard, Montreal, QC H4A 3J1, Canada.
Abstract:
Histones carry information in the form of post-translational modifications (PTMs). For this information to be propagated through cell cycles, parental histones and their PTMs need to be maintained at the same genomic locations. Yet, during DNA replication, every nucleosome in the genome is disrupted to allow passage of the replisome. Recent data have identified histone chaperone activities that are intrinsic components of the replisome and implicate them in maintaining parental histones during DNA replication. We propose that structural and kinetic coordination between DNA replication and replisome-associated histone chaperone activities ensures positional inheritance of histones and their PTMs. When this coordination is perturbed, histones may instead be recycled to random genomic locations by alternative histone chaperones.
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