Chromatin, the physiological template of all eukaryotic genetic information, is subject to a diverse array of posttranslational modifications that largely impinge on histone amino termini, thereby regulating access to the underlying DNA. Distinct histone amino-terminal modifications can generate synergistic or antagonistic interaction affinities for chromatin-associated proteins, which in turn dictate dynamic transitions between transcriptionally active or transcriptionally silent chromatin states. The combinatorial nature of histone amino-terminal modifications thus reveals a “histone code” that considerably extends the information potential of the genetic code. We propose that this epigenetic marking system represents a fundamental regulatory mechanism that has an impact on most, if not all, chromatin-templated processes, with far-reaching consequences for cell fate decisions and both normal and pathological development.

/pdf/translating-the-histone-code-l291mddcr9.pdf

Translating the Histone Code

http://experimentationlab.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/AFMImages/butt_AFM.pdf

Force measurements with the atomic force microscope: Technique, interpretation and applications

Potent and specific inhibition of mammalian histone deacetylase both in vivo and in vitro by trichostatin A.

Interpretation of X-ray Powder Diffraction Patterns . By H. Lipson and H. Steeple. Pp. viii + 335 + 3 plates. (Mac-millan: London; St Martins Press: New York, May 1970.) £4.

X-Ray Diffraction

The basic features of DNA were elucidated during the half-century following the discovery of the double helix. But it is only during the past decade that researchers have been able to manipulate single molecules of DNA to make direct measurements of its mechanical properties. These studies have illuminated the nature of interactions between DNA and proteins, the constraints within which the cellular machinery operates, and the forces created by DNA-dependent motors.

/pdf/ten-years-of-tension-single-molecule-dna-mechanics-3j5v7uo3it.pdf

Ten years of tension: single-molecule DNA mechanics

Analysis of adenine and thymine adsorbed on graphite by scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy

Identification of the binding site of two monoclonal antibodies to human protamine

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/cyto.990040214

Physical biochemistry–application to biochemistry and molecular biology, by David Freifelder. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, 2nd Edition, 1982, 624 pages, paperback

Rod Balhorn

Papers

Analysis of adenine and thymine adsorbed on graphite by scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy

Identification of the binding site of two monoclonal antibodies to human protamine

Physical biochemistry–application to biochemistry and molecular biology, by David Freifelder. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, 2nd Edition, 1982, 624 pages, paperback

Rat spermatid basic nuclear protein TP3 is the precursor of protamine 2

Further studies of histone phosphorylation in the presence of inhibitors of DNA synthesis.