Tuning acetylated chromatin with HAT inhibitors: a novel tool for therapy

Epigenetics, the heritable changes that do not involve DNA sequences, give dynamic propulsion to a static genome and modulate genome accessibility by acting through multiple layers of regulation, ultimately ending with a variable organization of chromatin. The main player in chromatin reprograming is the nucleosome, which modifies its association to DNA depending on a variety of post-translational modifications (PTMs) on histone tails. PTMs act directly on higher order chromatin structures and affect the degree of DNA wrap around the histone octamer and the interaction and/or sequential recruitment of chromatin-associated proteins and transcription factors at defined regions. Recently genomic approaches revealed a far more complex epigenome involving key proteins of cell signaling.