Anti-H1.8 linker histone antibodies are used for the immunodetection of the protein encoded by the H1-8 gene. In humans, the canonical protein has a reported length of 346 amino acid residues and a mass of 35.8 kDa. Its subcellular localization is in the nucleus and cytoplasm. Alternative splicing is reported to yield 2 different isoforms for this protein. It is reported to have oocyte-specific expression. A member of the Histone H1/H5 protein family, it is believed to play a key role in the control of gene expression during oogenesis and early embryogenesis, presumably through the perturbation of chromatin structure. Other names for this target antigen include H1 histone family member O oocyte specific, histone H1oo, oocyte-specific histone H1, oocyte-specific linker histone H1, and histone H1.8. Gene orthologs have been identified in the mouse, rat, bovine, frog, chimpanzee and chicken species.