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Journal ArticleDOI

The language of covalent histone modifications.

Brian D. Strahl, +1 more
- 06 Jan 2000 - 
- Vol. 403, Iss: 6765, pp 41-45
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TLDR
It is proposed that distinct histone modifications, on one or more tails, act sequentially or in combination to form a ‘histone code’ that is, read by other proteins to bring about distinct downstream events.
Abstract
Histone proteins and the nucleosomes they form with DNA are the fundamental building blocks of eukaryotic chromatin. A diverse array of post-translational modifications that often occur on tail domains of these proteins has been well documented. Although the function of these highly conserved modifications has remained elusive, converging biochemical and genetic evidence suggests functions in several chromatin-based processes. We propose that distinct histone modifications, on one or more tails, act sequentially or in combination to form a 'histone code' that is, read by other proteins to bring about distinct downstream events.

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Citations
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Histone sumoylation is associated with transcriptional repression

TL;DR: Evidence suggesting that histone sumoylation mediates gene silencing through recruitment of histone deacetylase and heterochromatin protein 1 is presented.
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Epigenetic mechanisms in memory formation

TL;DR: Neurobiologists have only recently begun to investigate the possible roles of epigenetic mechanisms in behaviour, physiology and neuropathology, and relevant data from the few extant neurobiology-related studies have already indicated a theme — epigenetic mechanism probably have an important role in synaptic plasticity and memory formation.
Journal ArticleDOI

From silencing to gene expression: real-time analysis in single cells.

TL;DR: An inducible system to visualize gene expression at the levels of DNA, RNA and protein in living cells is developed, able to correlate changes in chromatin structure with the progression of transcriptional activation allowing for a real-time integrative view of gene expression.
Journal ArticleDOI

Histone acetylation and deacetylation in yeast

TL;DR: New roles for histone acetylation have been uncovered, not only in transcription but also in DNA replication, repair and heterochromatin formation, and specific acetylatable lysines can function as binding sites for regulatory factors.
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Histone deacetylases: unique players in shaping the epigenetic histone code.

TL;DR: With the elucidation of the structures, functions and modes of action ofHDACs, finding agents that may be targeted to specific HDACs and potentially reactivate expression of only a defined set of affected genes in cancer will be more attainable.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Crystal structure of the nucleosome core particle at 2.8 Å resolution

TL;DR: The X-ray crystal structure of the nucleosome core particle of chromatin shows in atomic detail how the histone protein octamer is assembled and how 146 base pairs of DNA are organized into a superhelix around it.
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Histone acetylation in chromatin structure and transcription

TL;DR: The amino termini of histones extend from the nucleosomal core and are modified by acetyltransferases and deacetylases during the cell cycle, which may direct histone assembly and help regulate the unfolding and activity of genes.
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Protein modules and signalling networks

TL;DR: This work highlights conserved protein domains that act as key regulatory participants in many of these different signalling pathways in multicellular organisms.
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Mitosis-specific phosphorylation of histone H3 initiates primarily within pericentromeric heterochromatin during G2 and spreads in an ordered fashion coincident with mitotic chromosome condensation.

TL;DR: It is proposed that the singular phosphorylation of the amino-terminus of histone H3 may be involved in facilitating two key functions during mitosis: (1) regulate protein-protein interactions to promote binding of trans-acting factors that “drive” chromatin condensation as cells enter M-phase and (2) coordinate chromatin decondensation associated with M- phase.
Journal ArticleDOI

Histone acetylation and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms

TL;DR: Understanding of the causal relationship between histone acetylation and gene expression has been enhanced dramatically by the identification of proteins with intrinsic hist one acetylase and deacetylase activity, which led to a major paradigm shift in understanding of chromatin structure and transcription regulation.
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