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Histone acetylases—versatile players
Author(s) -
Nakatani Yoshihiro
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
genes to cells
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1365-2443
pISSN - 1356-9597
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2443.2001.00411.x
Subject(s) - chromatin , biology , histone , histone code , acetylation , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , histone h2a , transcription factor , dna , psychological repression , computational biology , nucleosome , gene , gene expression
Genomic DNA in eukaryotes is tightly packed in the form of a highly ordered chromatin structure. In view of this tight packing, one of the most important questions in biology is how the transcriptional machinery regulates target genes in chromatin. Reversible modification of histones by acetylation is involved in transcriptional activation as well as repression in chromatin contexts. Recent studies with highly purified histone acetylases have provided insights into the mechanisms whereby acetylases contribute to transcriptional control. Furthermore, they suggest the possibility that histone acetylases could play roles in various forms of DNA metabolism as well as in transcription in chromatin contexts.