The "Ins and Outs and What-Abouts" of H2A.Z: A Tribute to C. David Allis

Overview

Journal J Biol Chem

Specialty Biochemistry

Date 2025 Jan 6

PMID 39761855

Authors

Felix Diegmuller

Jorg Leers

Sandra B Hake

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In 2023, the brilliant chromatin biologist C. David Allis passed away leaving a large void in the scientific community and broken hearts in his family and friends. With this review, we want to tribute Dave's enduring inspiration by focusing on the histone variant H2A.Z, a nucleosome component he was the first to discover as hv1 in Tetrahymena. We summarize the latest findings from the past 5 years regarding the mammalian H2A.Z histone, focusing on its deposition and eviction mechanisms, its roles in transcriptional regulation, DNA damage repair, chromatin structure organization, and embryonic development, as well as how its deregulation or mutation(s) of its histone chaperones contribute to disease development. As Dave liked to say 'Every amino acid matters'; the discovery and characterization of functionally different H2A.Z's isoforms, which vary only in three amino acids, prove him-once again-right.

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