Five major families of histones exist: H1/H5, H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. Histones H2A, H2B, H3 and H4 are known as the core histones, while histones H1/H5 are known as the linker histones.
The core histones … See more

Compacting DNA strands
Histones act as spools around which DNA winds. This enables the compaction necessary to fit the large genomes of eukaryotes inside cell nuclei: the compacted molecule is 40,000 times shorter than an … See more

The first step of chromatin structure duplication is the synthesis of histone proteins: H1, H2A, H2B, H3, H4. These proteins are synthesized during S phase of the cell cycle. There … See more

The nucleosome core is formed of two H2A-H2B dimers and a H3-H4 tetramer, forming two nearly symmetrical halves by tertiary structure See more

Core histones are found in the nuclei of eukaryotic cells and in most Archaeal phyla, but not in bacteria. The unicellular algae known as See more

A huge catalogue of histone modifications have been described, but a functional understanding of most is still lacking. Collectively, it is … See more

Histones were discovered in 1884 by Albrecht Kossel. The word "histone" dates from the late 19th century and is derived from the German word "Histon", a word itself of uncertain origin, perhaps from Ancient Greek ἵστημι (hístēmi, “make stand”) or ἱστός … See more