Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 3, 2026

Optimized Staining and Proliferation Modeling Methods for Cell Division Monitoring using Cell Tracking Dyes
Published on: December 13, 2012
Epigenetic inheritance of active chromatin after removal of the main transactivator
1Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie (ZMBH), Universität of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 282, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Abstract:
The Drosophila Polycomb and trithorax group proteins act through chromosomal elements such as Fab-7 to maintain repressed or active gene expression, respectively. A Fab-7 element is switched from a silenced to a mitotically heritable active state by an embryonic pulse of transcription. Here, histone H4 hyperacetylation was found to be associated with Fab-7 after activation, suggesting that H4 hyperacetylation may be a heritable epigenetic tag of the activated element. Activated Fab-7 enables transcription of a gene even after withdrawal of the primary transcription factor. This feature may allow epigenetic maintenance of active states of developmental genes after decay of their early embryonic regulators.
Related Concept Videos
Inheritance of Chromatin Structures
Euchromatin
Euchromatin is the less dense region of the chromatin and stains lighter. Euchromatin contains histone H3 extensively...
Heterochromatin
Constitutive heterochromatin: It is a highly compact region of chromatin that is mostly concentrated in the centromere and telomere. Unlike euchromatin, the amino acid at 9th...
Epigenetic Regulation
X-chromosome...
Heterochromatin
Constitutive heterochromatin: It is a highly compact region of chromatin that is mostly concentrated in the centromere and telomere. Unlike euchromatin, the amino acid at 9th...
Chromatin Modification in iPS Cells
Compact chromatin makes reprogramming difficult. Enzymes, such as histone demethylases and acetyltransferases, are often added during reprogramming to loosen the chromatin, making the DNA more accessible to transcription factors. Molecules that inhibit histone...

