Combinatorial patterns of histone acetylations and methylations in
the human genome.
Nat. Genet., 40 (7):
897-903 (2008)DOI: 10.1038/ng.154
Abstract
Histones are characterized by numerous posttranslational modifications
that influence gene transcription. However, because of the lack of
global distribution data in higher eukaryotic systems, the extent
to which gene-specific combinatorial patterns of histone modifications
exist remains to be determined. Here, we report the patterns derived
from the analysis of 39 histone modifications in human CD4(+) T cells.
Our data indicate that a large number of patterns are associated
with promoters and enhancers. In particular, we identify a common
modification module consisting of 17 modifications detected at 3,286
promoters. These modifications tend to colocalize in the genome and
correlate with each other at an individual nucleosome level. Genes
associated with this module tend to have higher expression, and addition
of more modifications to this module is associated with further increased
expression. Our data suggest that these histone modifications may
act cooperatively to prepare chromatin for transcriptional activation.