HISTONE

Histone

In biology, histones are highly alkaline proteins found in eukaryotic cell nuclei that package and order the DNA into structural units called nucleosomes. They are the chief protein components of chromatin, acting as spools around which DNA winds, and play a role in gene regulation. Without histones, the unwound DNA in chromosomes would be very long . For example, each human cell has about 1.8 meters of DNA, but wound on the histones it has about 90 micrometers of chromatin, which, when duplicated and condensed during mitosis, result in about 120 micrometers of chromosomes.

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histone

Noun

  1. Any of various simple water soluble proteins that are rich in the basic amino acids lysine and arginine and are complexed with DNA in the nucleosomes of eukaryotic chromatin.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: histone
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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