A monocyclic interconvertible enzyme cascade, in which active and inactive states of an enzyme are interconverted by two opposing enzyme-catalysed reactions, does not necessarily produce a greater degree of sensitivity to an effector than one could expect from direct interaction between effector and target reaction. On the contrary, a cascade in which an effector acts on one of the enzymes cata...

Eukaryotic DNA is packaged, protected, and regulated by a histone protein core, around which the DNA is wrapped. This structure, termed chromatin, can be condensed and “closed,” a state associated with relative transcriptional repression. Conversely, chromatin can be “open,” a state which allows proteins governing transcription to access the DNA and effect RNA synthesis. Regulation of chromatin...

Acetylation of the N-terminal tails of core histones is an important regulatory mechanism in eukaryotic organisms. In filamentous fungi, little is known about the enzymes that modify histone tails. However, it is increasingly evident that histone deacetylases and histone acetyltransferases are critical factors for the regulation of genes involved in fungal pathogenicity, stress response, and pr...

The diploid woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is an important model for fruit crops because of several unique characteristics including the small genome size, an ethylene-independent fruit ripening process, and fruit flesh derived from receptacle tissues rather than the ovary wall which is more typical of fruiting plants. Histone methylation is an important factor in gene regulation in highe...

Epigenetic modifications are essential in the control of normal cellular processes and cancer development. DNA methylation and histone acetylation are major epigenetic modifications involved in gene transcription and abnormal events driving the oncogenic process. SET protein accumulates in many cancer types, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC); SET is a member of the INHAT c...

Since the earliest observations of cells undergoing mitosis, it has been clear that there is an intimate relationship between the cell cycle and nuclear chromatin architecture. The nuclear envelope and chromatin undergo robust assembly and disassembly during the cell cycle, and transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of histone biogenesis and chromatin modification is controlled in ...

Since the discovery of the first histone lysine demethylase in 2004, two protein families with numerous members have been identified that demethylate various histone lysine residues. Initial studies of the histone lysine demethylases focused on their in vitro enzymatic activity but, more recently, model organisms have been used to examine the roles of these enzymes in vivo. Here, we review rece...

DNA replication and repair involve the deposition of newly synthesized histones. After their deposition on a specific locus, histones are extensively modified on their protruding N-terminal tails to restore the histone code corresponding to this locus. These processes require a complex machinery of histone chaperones and histone-modifying enzymes. The precise kinetics of these events and the id...

Histone modifications play a key role in regulating transcription and thus ultimately regulate cellular development and differentiation. To understand how histone modifications influence normal development and disease states, a global catalogue of histone modifications and modifying enzymes in normal and disease states is necessary. The first such systematic mapping experiments using the recent...

Dynamic regulation of histone modifications and small noncoding RNAs is observed throughout the development of the C. elegans germ line. Histone modifications are differentially regulated in the mitotic vs meiotic germ line, on X chromosomes vs autosomes and on paired chromosomes vs unpaired chromosomes. Small RNAs function in transposon silencing and developmental gene regulation. Histone modi...