ASF1A Gene

Name	anti-silencing function 1A histone chaperone
Description	This gene encodes a member of the H3/H4 family of histone chaperone proteins and is similar to the anti-silencing function-1 gene in yeast. The protein is a key component of a histone donor complex that functions in nucleosome assembly. It interacts with histones H3 and H4, and functions together with a chromatin assembly factor during DNA replication and repair. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n ASF1A is an evolutionarily conserved histone chaperone that plays a pivotal role in maintaining chromatin integrity by mediating the dynamic handling of histones during key nuclear processes. It binds histone H3–H4 dimers and facilitates their appropriate transfer for nucleosome disassembly and reassembly during DNA replication, repair, and transcription. In several studies, ASF1A is shown to be essential for the acetylation of histone H3 on lysine 56 (H3K56ac), a modification that couples chromatin assembly to DNA synthesis and is critical for genomic stability; misregulation of this pathway has been implicated in cancer development."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "1", "end_ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Structural and biochemical analyses reveal that ASF1A interacts with histones through a well‐defined binding groove and cooperates with other chaperones—including HIRA, MCM2, and CAF-1—to ensure proper nucleosome deposition via both replication-dependent and -independent pathways"}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "4", "end_ref": "6"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "–."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "7", "end_ref": "9"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " These interactions are critical for timely S-phase progression and appropriate responses to DNA damage, as post-translational modifications such as TLK-mediated phosphorylation further enhance the histone-binding and chaperoning functions of ASF1A."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "6"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Furthermore, depletion of ASF1A (often in combination with its paralog ASF1B) has been shown to induce alternative telomere lengthening (ALT), highlighting its role in telomere maintenance and genomic stability."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "10"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In addition, ASF1A is implicated in the reprogramming of somatic cells toward pluripotency, underscoring its influence on cell fate decisions and its potential importance in regenerative medicine."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "11"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n In summary, ASF1A serves as a central regulator of histone dynamics and chromatin organization. By integrating histone supply with DNA replication, repair, and transcription, it safeguards genomic integrity while modulating cell proliferation and differentiation in both normal and disease contexts"}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "–."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "11"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Chandrima Das, M Scott Lucia, Kirk C Hansen, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "CBP/p300-mediated acetylation of histone H3 on lysine 56."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nature (2009)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/nature07861"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07861"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19270680"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19270680"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Jian Yuan, Mintie Pu, Zhiguo Zhang, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Histone H3-K56 acetylation is important for genomic stability in mammals."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell Cycle (2009)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.4161/cc.8.11.8620"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.4161/cc.8.11.8620"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19411844"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19411844"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Florence Mousson, Aurélie Lautrette, Jean-Yves Thuret, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Structural basis for the interaction of Asf1 with histone H3 and its functional implications."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (2005)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1073/pnas.0500149102"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0500149102"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15840725"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15840725"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Ryo Natsume, Masamitsu Eitoku, Yusuke Akai, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Structure and function of the histone chaperone CIA/ASF1 complexed with histones H3 and H4."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nature (2007)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/nature05613"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05613"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "17293877"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17293877"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yong Tang, Maxim V Poustovoitov, Kehao Zhao, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Structure of a human ASF1a-HIRA complex and insights into specificity of histone chaperone complex assembly."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nat Struct Mol Biol (2006)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/nsmb1147"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb1147"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "16980972"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16980972"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Ilnaz M Klimovskaia, Clifford Young, Caroline B Strømme, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Tousled-like kinases phosphorylate Asf1 to promote histone supply during DNA replication."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nat Commun (2014)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/ncomms4394"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4394"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "24598821"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24598821"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 7, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Junhong Han, Hui Zhang, Honglian Zhang, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "A Cul4 E3 ubiquitin ligase regulates histone hand-off during nucleosome assembly."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell (2013)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.cell.2013.10.014"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2013.10.014"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "24209620"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24209620"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 8, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nikolay A Pchelintsev, Tony McBryan, Taranjit Singh Rai, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Placing the HIRA histone chaperone complex in the chromatin landscape."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell Rep (2013)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.celrep.2013.03.026"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2013.03.026"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "23602572"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23602572"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 9, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nicolas Richet, Danni Liu, Pierre Legrand, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Structural insight into how the human helicase subunit MCM2 may act as a histone chaperone together with ASF1 at the replication fork."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nucleic Acids Res (2015)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1093/nar/gkv021"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkv021"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "25618846"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25618846"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 10, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Roderick J O'Sullivan, Nausica Arnoult, Daniel H Lackner, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Rapid induction of alternative lengthening of telomeres by depletion of the histone chaperone ASF1."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nat Struct Mol Biol (2014)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/nsmb.2754"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2754"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "24413054"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24413054"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 11, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Elena Gonzalez-Muñoz, Yohanna Arboleda-Estudillo, Hasan H Otu, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell reprogramming. Histone chaperone ASF1A is required for maintenance of pluripotency and cellular reprogramming."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Science (2014)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1126/science.1254745"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1254745"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "25035411"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25035411"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	CIA, CGI-98, HSPC146
Proteins	ASF1A_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	25842
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

ASF1A has 7,566 functional associations with biological entities spanning 9 categories (molecular profile, organism, chemical, functional term, phrase or reference, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA, sequence feature) extracted from 115 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for ASF1A from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

ASF1A Gene

Functional Associations

Please acknowledge the Harmonizome in your publications by citing the following reference(s):

	Dataset	Summary
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of ASF1A gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of ASF1A gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles	tissue samples with high or low expression of ASF1A gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray	tissue samples with high or low expression of ASF1A gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq	tissue samples with high or low expression of ASF1A gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of ASF1A gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of ASF1A gene relative to other cell lines from the BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of ASF1A gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of ASF1A gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures	small molecule perturbations changing expression of ASF1A gene from the Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of ASF1A gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of ASF1A gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Proteomics	Cell lines associated with ASF1A protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with ASF1A gene from the CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of ASF1A gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of ASF1A gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022	transcription factors binding the promoter of ASF1A gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of ASF1A gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing ASF1A protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing ASF1A protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with ASF1A protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components co-occuring with ASF1A protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	CORUM Protein Complexes	protein complexs containing ASF1A protein from the CORUM Protein Complexes dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with ASF1A gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with ASF1A gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action	small molecule perturbations with high or low expression of ASF1A protein relative to other small molecule perturbations from the DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action dataset.
	DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency	cell lines with fitness changed by ASF1A gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases co-occuring with ASF1A gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases co-occuring with ASF1A gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with ASF1A gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with ASF1A gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Phenoptype Associations dataset.
	ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles	histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at ASF1A gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of ASF1A gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of ASF1A gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing ASF1A from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
	GAD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with ASF1A gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with ASF1A gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of ASF1A gene relative to other cell lines from the GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations	biological terms co-occuring with ASF1A gene in literature-supported statements describing functions of genes from the GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations dataset.
	GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing ASF1A from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset.