Global effects of histone modifications

Abstract

The relationship between chromatin structure and transcriptional regulation has been the focus of many research publications over the past few years. A lot of progress has been made in understanding the role of histone modifications. The interdependence of histone methylation and DNA methylation has been revealed. Methylation, acetylation, phosphorylation and ubiquitination of specific histone residues are all able to affect the DNA binding of transcription factors and to change the structure of chromatin on a genome-wide scale. This review aims to summarise some of the experiments that demonstrated the global effects of the modifications of the five histone proteins, HI, H2A, H2B, H3 and H4. © Henry Stewart Publications.