The blocking effect of histones on accessibility of DNA to DNase has been studied by addition of various histones to chromatin in intact or histone-depleted thymus nuclei (those from which all lysine-rich histone was removed and those from which much of the arginine-rich histone was removed) and to deoxyribonucleoprotein (chromatin) extracted from nuclei. In each case lysine-rich histone, weigh...

Since the initial discovery of histone acetyltransferases, numerous reports have established that histone acetyltransferases and histone deacetylases regulate transcription by acetylating and deacetylating histones, respectively. Recent studies have focused on the effects of histone acetylation on gene expression regulation during development and the roles of histone hypoacetylation in the main...

spinal cord injury (sci)-induced systemic inflammatory response affects multiple organs outside the spi­nal cord. treatment options for such complications are lacking. valproic acid (vpa) is a histone deacetylase inhibitor, acting directly at the level of gene transcription by inhibiting histone deacetylation and making transcription sites more accessible. acetylation of histones is critical to...

Posttranslational modifications of histone N-terminal tails impact chromatin structure and gene transcription. While the extent of histone acetylation is determined by both acetyltransferases and deacetylases, it has been unclear whether histone methylation is also regulated by enzymes with opposing activities. Here, we provide evidence that LSD1 (KIAA0601), a nuclear homolog of amine oxidases,...

The Histone Database is a curated and searchable collection of full-length sequences and structures of histones and nonhistone proteins containing histone-like folds, compiled from major public databases. Several new histone fold-containing proteins have been identified, including the huntingtin-interacting protein HYPM. Additionally, based on the recent crystal structure of the Son of Sevenles...

Histone modifications are important epigenetic features of chromatin that must be replicated faithfully. However, the molecular mechanisms required to duplicate and maintain histone modification patterns in chromatin remain to be determined. Here, we show that the introduction of histone modifications into newly deposited nucleosomes depends upon their location in the chromosome. In Saccharomyc...

Protease activity associated with avian erythroid chromatin has been studied by gel electrophoresis of histones. Histone degradation is minimal at neutral pH, but is readily detected when chromatin is incubated at pH 3, and is evident to a lesser extent at pH 9. As a result of the pH 3 activity, the f1 and f2 chistones are preferentially degraded when the histone complement is DNA-bound, but th...

Guanosine 3’:5’-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase from bovine heart muscle was purified to apparent homogeneity using affinity chromatography. The kinase activity was purified at least l&400-fold with an overall recovery of 6%. Sodium dodecyl sulfate gels of purified kinase showed one stained band corresponding to a molecular weight of 82,000. When histone I was used as substrate protein, ...

Background: Embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells derived from germ cell tumors are valuable tools for investigating differentiation and developmental biology processes in vitro. The advantage of the reproducible and rapid expansion of these cell lines provides a useful alternative to embryos for the study of mammalian cell differentiation. During early stages of cell differentiation, the rate of tran...

Despite the fundamental role of canonical histones in nucleosome structure, there is no experimental system for higher eukaryotes in which basic questions about histone function can be directly addressed. We developed a new genetic tool for Drosophila melanogaster in which the canonical histone complement can be replaced with multiple copies of experimentally modified histone transgenes. This n...