High impact information on Histone Code

• Reconstitution of recombinant nucleosomes bearing mutations in these lysine residues revealed the cascade of gene activation via a point-by-point interpretation of the histone code through the ordered recruitment of bromodomain-containing transcription complexes [1].
• These data define a conserved pathway wherein sequential histone modifications establish a "histone code" essential for the epigenetic inheritance of heterochromatin assembly [2].
• A histone code in meiosis: the histone kinase, NHK-1, is required for proper chromosomal architecture in Drosophila oocytes [3].
• These studies reveal that NHK-1-catalyzed phosphorylation of a conserved serine/threonine residue in H2A is a new component of the histone code that might be related to cell cycle progression [4].
• To understand the molecular mechanism of the methyl-Lys 27 histone code recognition, we have determined a 1.4-A-resolution structure of the chromodomain of Polycomb in complex with a histone H3 peptide trimethylated at Lys 27 [5].

Biological context of Histone Code

• Our results suggest a model in which H3K9 methylation by KYP, and H3K27 methylation by an unknown enzyme provide a combinatorial histone code for the recruitment of CMT3 to silent loci [6].
• Lysine acetylation is one of several histone modifications that have been proposed to form the basis for a mechanism for recording epigenetically stable marks in chromatin, known as the histone code [7].
• But, thanks to its prime positioning, a variation in the tail of H2AX enables rapid modification of the histone code in response to DNA damage [8].

Associations of Histone Code with chemical compounds

• Moreover, a methyl-deficient diet is carcinogenic and demethylation is also known to be carcinogenic via the histone code [9].
• A Trans-tail Histone Code Defined by Monomethylated H4 Lys-20 and H3 Lys-9 Demarcates Distinct Regions of Silent Chromatin [10].
• Vitamin A status in mice affects the histone code of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene in liver [11].

Gene context of Histone Code

• The histone code associated with the XL boxes and that of the HLA-DRA X box was determined [12].
• The histone code regulating expression of the imprinted mouse Igf2r gene [13].
• A SANT motif in the SMRT corepressor interprets the histone code and promotes histone deacetylation [14].
• Modifications of the histone code alone are not sufficient to account for the antitumor effect of HDAC inhibitors [15].
• Evidence for the existence of an HP1-mediated subcode within the histone code [16].

References