Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026
24:02
The ChroP Approach Combines ChIP and Mass Spectrometry to Dissect Locus-specific Proteomic Landscapes of Chromatin
Published on: April 11, 2014
Recognition of non-methyl histone marks
1MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK. mxb@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk
Current Opinion in Structural Biology
|October 28, 2011
Summary
Histone modifications like acetylation and ubiquitination guide DNA-binding proteins. This review explores biochemical and structural insights into how these modified histones are recognized, impacting gene regulation.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Epigenetics
- Structural Biology
Background:
- Eukaryotic DNA is organized into chromatin, a complex of proteins and nucleic acids.
- Histones, the core proteins of chromatin, undergo diverse post-translational modifications.
- These modifications act as crucial signals for recruiting protein complexes involved in DNA processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent biochemical and structural studies on histone modification recognition.
- To elucidate the mechanisms by which modified histones interact with regulatory complexes.
Main Methods:
- Biochemical assays to study protein-histone interactions.
- Structural biology techniques (e.g., X-ray crystallography, NMR) to determine complex structures.
- Analysis of post-translational modifications on histones.
Main Results:
- Detailed structural insights into how specific histone modifications (acetylation, ubiquitination, phosphorylation, poly-ADP-ribosylation) are recognized.
- Identification of key residues and interaction interfaces involved in this recognition.
- Understanding how modified histones recruit specific multiprotein complexes.
Conclusions:
- Histone modification recognition is a fundamental mechanism in eukaryotic gene regulation.
- Biochemical and structural data provide a mechanistic basis for understanding these interactions.
- This knowledge is vital for comprehending DNA transcription, replication, and repair processes.
More Related Videos
10:09Isolation and Cultivation of Neural Progenitors Followed by Chromatin-Immunoprecipitation of Histone 3 Lysine 79 Dimethylation Mark
Published on: January 26, 2018
11:02Complete Workflow for Analysis of Histone Post-translational Modifications Using Bottom-up Mass Spectrometry: From Histone Extraction to Data Analysis
Published on: May 17, 2016
Related Concept Videos
02:32Histone Modification
The histone proteins have a flexible N-terminal tail extending out from the nucleosome. These histone tails are often subjected to post-translational modifications such as acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, and ubiquitination. Particular combinations of these modifications form “histone codes” that influence the chromatin folding and tissue-specific gene expression.
Acetylation
The enzyme histone acetyltransferase adds acetyl group to the histones. Another enzyme, histone deacetylase,...
Acetylation
The enzyme histone acetyltransferase adds acetyl group to the histones. Another enzyme, histone deacetylase,...
02:32Histone Modification
The histone proteins have a flexible N-terminal tail extending out from the nucleosome. These histone tails are often subjected to post-translational modifications such as acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, and ubiquitination. Particular combinations of these modifications form “histone codes” that influence the chromatin folding and tissue-specific gene expression.
Acetylation
The enzyme histone acetyltransferase adds acetyl group to the histones. Another enzyme, histone deacetylase,...
Acetylation
The enzyme histone acetyltransferase adds acetyl group to the histones. Another enzyme, histone deacetylase,...
02:38Heterochromatin
The extent of chromatin compaction can be studied by staining chromatin using specific DNA binding dyes. Under the microscope, the dense-compacted regions that take up more dye are called heterochromatin. Heterochromatin is further classified into two forms – constitutive heterochromatin and facultative 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...
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...
03:17Inheritance of Chromatin Structures
Epigenetics is the study of inherited changes in a cell's phenotype without changing the DNA sequences. It provides a form of memory for the differential gene expression pattern to maintain cell lineage, position-effect variegation, dosage compensation, and maintenance of chromatin structures such as telomeres and centromeres. For example, the structure and location of the centromere on chromosomes are epigenetically inherited. Its functionality is not dictated or ensured by the underlying DNA...
02:25Spreading of Chromatin Modifications
The histone proteins in the nucleosomes are post-translationally modified (PTM) to increase or decrease access to DNA. The commonly observed PTMs are methylation, acetylation, phosphorylation, and ubiquitination of lysine amino acids in the histone H3 tail region. These histone modifications have specific meaning for the cell. Hence, they are called "histone code". The protein complex involved in histone modification is termed as "reader-writer" complex.
Writers
The writer is an enzyme that can...
Writers
The writer is an enzyme that can...
02:30Histone Variants at the Centromere
Histone variants are the histone proteins with structural and sequence variations. These variants may be regarded as “mutant” forms that replace their canonical histone counterparts in the nucleosomes. Specific post-translational modifications on the histone variants enable further chromatin complexity and regulate tissue-specific gene expression. The most common histone variants are from histone H2A, H2B, and linker histone H1 families. However, several variants of histone H3 variants are also...