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FLASH GENE
Symbol HELLS contributors: mct - updated : 09-01-2019
HGNC name helicase, lymphoid-specific
HGNC id 4861
PROTEIN
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
STRUCTURE
motifs/domains
HOMOLOGY
interspecies homolog to yeast S cerivisiae YFK8
Homologene
FAMILY
  • SNF2/RAD54 family
  • SNF2 family of chromatin remodeling ATPases
  • CATEGORY enzyme
    SUBCELLULAR LOCALIZATION extracellular
        intracellular
    intracellular,nucleus,chromatin/chromosome,heterochromosome
    intracellular,nucleus,chromatin/chromosome,centromere
    basic FUNCTION
  • involved with cellular proliferation and may play a role in leukemogenesis
  • has a critical and previously unidentified role in epigenetic gene silencing and maintenance of genomic stability during female meiosis
  • may serves as a recruiting factor for DNMTs and HDACs to establish transcriptionally repressive chromatin which is perhaps further stabilized by DNA methylation at targeted loci
  • represses endogenous CDKN2A expression by recruiting HDAC to establish a repressive chromatin structure at the CDKN2A promoter, which in turn delays cell senescence
  • modulator of CpG methylation, crucial for the formation of normal heterochromatin and normal histone methylation
  • controls CpG methylation at selected HOX genes
  • essential for normal levels of DNA methylation in the mammalian genome
  • important for de novo DNA methylation events that accompany the establishment and differentiation of embryonic lineage cells
  • promotes binding of DNA methyltransferases and the EHMT2 complex to specific loci and facilitates developmentally programmed DNA methylation and stable gene silencing during lineage commitment and differentiation
  • major epigenetic regulator that is essential for DNA methylation and histone acetylation at repetitive elements
  • HELLS modulates CG methylation at all classes of repeat elements and is critical for repression of a subset of repeat elements
  • exerts epigenetic regulation at key regulators of neural stem cell fate ensuring adequate neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) self-renewal and maintenance during development
  • is a chromatin remodeling factor that regulates DNA methylation and chromatin function in mammals
  • ZBTB24, HELLS, CDCA7 gene products are not involved in establishing or maintaining subtelomeric methylation
  • SWI2/SNF2 chromatin remodeling enzyme
  • is a key epigenetic driver of hepatocellular carcinoma
  • CELLULAR PROCESS nucleotide, repair
    PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESS
    text putative
    PATHWAY
    metabolism
    signaling
    a component
  • HELLS-CDCA7 complex possesses nucleosome remodeling activity
  • INTERACTION
    DNA
    RNA
    small molecule
    protein
  • cooperates with the DNMTs DNMT1 and DNMT3B and with the histone deacetylases (HDACs) HDAC1 and HDAC2 to silence transcription
  • E2F1 physically interacts with the HELLS promoter by binding to each of the two putative binding sites and transactivates the HELLS promoter
  • HELLS interacts with E2F3A and cooperates with its oncogenic functions
  • ability of HELLS to bind ATP and the cellular concentration of DNMT3B are critical for cell-autonomous de novo DNA methylation in somatic cells
  • assists gene repression upon binding to the POU5F1 promoter region
  • cell & other
    REGULATION
    ASSOCIATED DISORDERS
    corresponding disease(s) ICF4
    Other morbid association(s)
    TypeGene ModificationChromosome rearrangementProtein expressionProtein Function
    constitutional     --over  
    delays cell senescence by silencing CDKN2A in fibroblasts
    tumoral     --over  
    in hepatocellular carcinoma
    Susceptibility
    Variant & Polymorphism
    Candidate gene
    Marker
    Therapy target
    ANIMAL & CELL MODELS