BackgroundInformation | HistonesareafamilyofbasicproteinsthatassociatewithDNAinthenucleusandhelpcondenseitintochromatin.Somehistonesfunctionasspoolsforthethread-likeDNAtowraparoundforminganucleosome.EachnucleosomeismadeofDNAwrappedaroundeighthistoneproteinsthatfunctionlikeaspoolandarecalledahistoneoctamer.EachhistoneoctameriscomposedoftwocopieseachofthehistoneproteinsH2A,H2B,H3,andH4.Thechainofnucleosomesisthenwrappedintoa30nmspiralcalledasolenoid,whereadditionalH1histoneproteinsareassociatedwitheachnucleosometomaintainthechromosomestructure. |