Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2026 Feb 9.
doi: 10.1038/s44319-026-00704-9. Online ahead of print.

Human CRAMP1 specifically promotes the expression of histone H1 genes

Justin Bodner  1 , Pranathi Vadlamani  1 , Alexander S Lee  1 , Kathryn A Helmin  2 , Qianli Liu  2 , Almira E Pratasenia  1 , Maria M A Horst  1 , Sudharsana Ravisankar  1 , Sakshi Khurana  1 , Marc L Mendillo  1   3   4 , Benjamin D Singer  1   2   3   4 , Shashank Srivastava  1 , Daniel R Foltz  5   6   7
Affiliations
Free article

Human CRAMP1 specifically promotes the expression of histone H1 genes

Justin Bodner et al. EMBO Rep. .
Free article

Abstract

Proper histone gene expression is critical for cell viability and maintenance of genomic integrity. Multiple histone genes are organized into three genomic loci that encode replication-coupled core and linker histones. Histone gene expression and transcript processing are orchestrated in the histone locus body (HLB) within the nucleus. Here, we identify human CRAMP1 as a selective regulator of the linker histone H1 expression. Human CRAMP1 is recruited to the HLB in RPE1hTERT cells. Immunoprecipitation combined with mass spectrometry shows CRAMP1 physically associates with the HLB component GON4L (also known as YARP). We demonstrate that the PAH domains of GON4L interact with CRAMP1. CRAMP1 disruption results in reduced histone H1 mRNA expression and histone H1 protein levels, with no significant changes in core histone gene expression. CRAMP1 occupies the promoters of actively expressed replication-coupled linker histone genes that reside within the histone locus body and replication-independent histone H1 loci, which reside in a region of the genome without other histone genes. Together, these data identify CRAMP1 as a novel and selective regulator of histone H1 gene expression.

Keywords: Chromatin; Histone; Nucleosome; Nucleus; Transcription.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure and competing interests statement. The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. Abramson J, Adler J, Dunger J, Evans R, Green T, Pritzel A, Ronneberger O, Willmore L, Ballard AJ, Bambrick J et al (2024) Accurate structure prediction of biomolecular interactions with AlphaFold 3. Nature 630:493–500 - PubMed - PMC - DOI
    1. Amici DR, Jackson JM, Truica MI, Smith RS, Abdulkadir SA, Mendillo ML (2021) FIREWORKS: a bottom-up approach to integrative coessentiality network analysis. Life Sci Alliance 4:e202000882
    1. Amici DR, Ansel DJ, Metz KA, Smith RS, Phoumyvong CM, Gayatri S, Chamera T, Edwards SL, O'Hara BP, Srivastava S, Brockway S, Takagishi SR, Cho BK, Goo YA, Kelleher NL, Ben-Sahra I, Foltz DR, Li J, Mendillo ML (2022) C16orf72/HAPSTR1 is a molecular rheostat in an integrated network of stress response pathways. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 119(27):e2111262119
    1. Aoi Y, Takahashi YH, Shah AP, Iwanaszko M, Rendleman EJ, Khan NH, Cho BK, Goo YA, Ganesan S, Kelleher NL et al (2021) SPT5 stabilization of promoter-proximal RNA polymerase II. Mol Cell 81:4413–4424.e4415 - PubMed - PMC - DOI
    1. Armstrong C, Passanisi VJ, Ashraf HM, Spencer SL (2023) Cyclin E/CDK2 and feedback from soluble histone protein regulate the S phase burst of histone biosynthesis. Cell Rep 42:112768 - PubMed - PMC - DOI

LinkOut - more resources