Histone Modifications and Nuclear Architecture: A Review

Eva Bártová ^1*, Jana Krejí ¹, Andrea Harniarová ¹, Gabriela Galiová ¹ and Stanislav Kozubek ¹

¹ Laboratory of Molecular Cytology and Cytometry, Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bartova{at}ibp.cz.

Submitted on February 28, 2008
Accepted on 29 April 2008

	Abstract

Epigenetic modifications, such as acetylation, phosphorylation, methylation, ubiquitination, and ADP-ribosylation, of the highly conserved core histones, H2A, H2B, H3, and H4, influence the genetic potential of DNA. The enormous regulatory potential of histone modification is illustrated in the vast array of epigenetic markers found throughout the genome. More than the other types of histone modification, acetylation and methylation of specific lysine residues on N-terminal histone tails are fundamental for the formation of chromatin domains, such as euchromatin, and facultative and constitutive heterochromatin. In addition, the modification of histones can cause a region of chromatin to undergo nuclear compartmentalization and, as such, specific epigenetic markers are non-randomly distributed within interphase nuclei. In this review, we summarize the principles behind epigenetic compartmentalization and the functional consequences of chromatin arrangement within interphase nuclei.

Key Words: histones, histone modifications, nuclear architecture, HDAC inhibitors

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