Insights into the roles of histone chaperones in nucleosome assembly and disassembly in virus infection

•Histone Chaperone (HC) plays important role in chromatin regulation.•HC proved to be a potential target for viral proteins.•Viruses tend to exploit HC for regulation of genome maintenance.•HC can regulate anti-viral defence response against viruses. Nucleosomes are assembled or disassembled with the aid of histone chaperones in a cell. Viruses can exist either as minichromosomes/episomes or can integrate into the host genome and in both the cases the viral proteins interact and manipulate the cellular nucleosome assembly machinery to ensure their survival and propagation. Recent studies have provided insight into the mechanism and role of histone chaperones in nucleosome assembly and disassembly on the virus genome. Further, the interactions between viral proteins and histone chaperones have been implicated in the integration of the virus genome into the host genome. This review highlights the recent progress and future challenges in understanding the role of histone chaperones in viruses with DNA or RNA genome and their role in governing viral pathogenesis.