Maintenance of chromatin states: an open-and-shut case.
The traditional view of chromatin envisions two states: one is 'active' and accessible to nucleases, whereas the other is 'silent' and relatively inaccessible. Recent evidence that combinations of diverse histone tail modifications represent a spectrum of chromatin states challenges this simple view. Here, we examine inter-relationships between chromatin remodeling, histone modification, DNA methylation, RNA interference, and nucleosome assembly activities. We find that the two-state view can accommodate these new findings, and that nucleosome assembly pathways may ultimately maintain euchromatic and heterochromatic states.
Vermaak
Danielle
D
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
Ahmad
Kami
K
Henikoff
Steven
S
D000818:Animals; D002843:Chromatin / Q000502:physiology*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D006657:Histones / Q000502:physiology*; D034622:RNA Interference
D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones