Thymidine kinase (TK) is a growth factor-inducible enzyme that is highly expressed in proliferating mammalian cells. Expression of mouse TK mRNA is controlled by transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms including antisense transcription. Here we report the identification of a novel gene that is divergently transcribed from the bidirectional TK promoter. This gene encodes kynurenine fo...

Cilia are evolutionarily highly conserved organelles with important functions in many organs. The extracellular component of the cilium protruding from plasma membrane comprises an axoneme composed microtubule doublets, arranged a 9 + 0 conformation primary cilia or 2 motile cilia. These microtubules facilitate transport intraflagellar cargoes along axoneme. They also provide structural stabili...

In this issue of Molecular Cell, Weinberger et al. (2012) find that particular histone deacetylases (HDACs) regulate distinct stages of transcription, implicating chromatin dynamics in the generation of gene-specific noise within populations of genetically identical cells.

A tetraphenylethylene-derivative fluorescent probe for the one-step detection of histone deacetylases (HDAC) was developed. The deacetylation of the probe triggers electrostatic interaction between the molecules and automatically leads to fluorescence enhancement based on aggregation-induced emission (AIE).

Histone acetylation and deacetylation promote and repress gene transcription, respectively. Recruitment of histone deacetylases (HDAC) to sites of inflammatory gene transcription has been proposed to explain part of the anti-inflammatory activity of steroids. To examine whether this concept extends to other inflammatory conditions, the current authors investigated the role of histone acetylatio...

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are key enzymes for post-translational modification and influence on various cellular activities. Thus, HDACs associated with many diseases their inhibitors have clinical significance. Here, 4-Hexylresorcinol (4HR) was studied as an inhibitor class I using the HDAC (HDACi) Trichostatin-A a positive control. The 4HR administered 1–100 μM to human umbilical endothelia...

Histone acetyltransferases (HATs) play a key role in transcription control, cell proliferation and differentiation by modulating chromatin structure; however, little is known about their own regulation. Here we show that expression of the viral oncoprotein SV40 T antigen increases histone acetylation and global cellular HAT activities. In addition, it enhances CREB-binding protein HAT activity ...

Histone acetylation regulates many chromosome functions, such as gene expression and chromosome segregation. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) induce growth arrest, differentiation and apoptosis of cancer cells ex vivo, as well as in vivo in tumour-bearing animal models, and are now undergoing clinical trials as anti-tumour agents. However, little attention has been paid to how HDACIs fun...

Reduced synovial expression of histone deacetylases (HDACs) is proposed to contribute to pathology in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by enhancing histone-dependent access of transcription factors to promoters of inflammatory genes. In the previous issue of Arthritis Research & Therapy, Kawabata and colleagues provided independent evidence that HDAC activity is increased in the synovium and fibroblas...

Deacetylation of histone tails has been shown to play a role during heterochromatin formation, but the precise mechanism of action has not been understood. Complementary results presented in two recent articles in The EMBO Journal (Alper et al, 2013; Buscaino et al, 2013) together reveal how histone deacetylases (HDACs) affect the various phases of heterochromatin formation: establishment, main...