title: Linker histone binding and displacement: versatile mechanism for transcriptional regulation.
abstract: In recent years, the connection between chromatin structure and its transcriptional activity has attracted considerable experimental effort. The post-translational modifications to both the core histones and the linker histones are finely tuned through interactions with transcriptional regulators and change chromatin structure in a way to allow transcription to occur. Here we review evidence for the involvement of linker histones in transcriptional regulation and suggest a scenario in which the reversible and controllable binding/displacement of proteins of this class to the nucleosome entry/exit point determine the accessibility of the nucleosomal DNA to the transcriptional machinery.
authors.affiliation: Biochip Technology Center, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439-4833, USA. zlatanoj@everest.bim.an1.gov
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zlatanova
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Caiafa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Holde
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D019175:DNA Methylation; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009707:Nucleosomes / Q000235:genetics; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011485:Protein Binding; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational / Q000235:genetics; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D006657:Histones; D009707:Nucleosomes; D004247:DNA