A methylation rendezvous: reader meets writers.
It is well established that two marks of silent chromatin, DNA methylation and histone H3 methylation at lysine 9, engage in an epigenetic conversation. In a recent issue of Genes & Development, Smallwood et al. (2007) report that the mammalian HP1 adaptor "translates" methylation information from histone to DNA, helping to cement epigenetic expression states.
Brenner
Carmen
C
Laboratory of Cancer Epigenetics, Faculty of Medicine, Free University of Brussels, 808 route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
Fuks
François
F
D000107:Acetylation; D002843:Chromatin; D000090266:Chromobox Protein Homolog 5; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000378:metabolism*; D020868:Gene Silencing; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008239:Lysine / Q000378:metabolism*; D008745:Methylation; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
D002843:Chromatin; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D006657:Histones; D000090266:Chromobox Protein Homolog 5; D008239:Lysine