Histone Cluster 1, H1b (HIST1H1B)

HIST1H1B is intronless and encodes a member of the histone H1 family. Transcripts from this gene lack polyA tails but instead contain a palindromic termination element. This gene is found in the small histone gene cluster on chromosome 6p22-p21.3.By investigating MSX1 function in repression of myogenic gene expression, Lee et al. (2004) identified a physical interaction between MSX1 and H1B. Lee et al. (2004) found that MSX1 and H1B bind to a key regulatory element of MYOD, a central regulator of skeletal muscle differentiation, where they induce repressed chromatin. Moreover, MSX1 and H1B cooperated to inhibit muscle differentiation in cell culture and in Xenopus animal caps. Lee et al. (2004) concluded that their findings defined a theretofore unknown function for linker histones in gene-specific transcriptional regulation.