| Primary Identifier | IPR000164 | Type | Family |
| Short Name | Histone_H3/CENP-A |
| description | This entry includes histone H3 and its variant, CENP-A (Cse4 in budding yeast, Cnp1 in fission yeast, and CID/CenH3 in fruit flies). Two primate-specific forms of H3, known as H3.X and H3.Y, are found in the brain [].Histone H3 is one of the five histones, along with H1/H5, H2A, H2B and H4. Two copies of each of the H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 histones ensemble to form the core of the nucleosome []. The nucleosome forms octameric structure that wraps DNA in a left-handed manner. H3 is a highly conserved protein of 135 amino acid residues [, ]. Histones can undergo several different types of post-translational modifications that affect transcription, DNA repair, DNA replication and chromosomal stability.Eukaryotic centromeres consists of an unique nucleosome in which CENP-A can be found []. Human CENP-A nucleosome forms a histone octamer containing two each of histones H2A, H2B, H4 and CENP-A. Similar to the H3-containing nucleosome, the CENP-A nucleosome wraps DNA in a left-handed orientation [, ]. CENP-A nucleosomes function as a scaffold on which other kinetochore proteins assemble. CENP-A may serves as an epigenetic marker for kinetochore assembly []. Deposition of CENP-A to the centromere requires histone chaperone HJURP (Holliday junction recognition protein) []. |
