title: CpG islands under selective pressure are enriched with H3K4me3, H3K27ac and H3K36me3 histone modifications.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Histone modification is an epigenetic mechanism that influences gene regulation in eukaryotes. In particular, histone modifications in CpG islands (CGIs) are associated with different chromatin states and with transcription activity. Changes in gene expression play a crucial role in adaptation and evolution.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this paper, we have studied, using a computational biology approach, the relationship between histone modifications in CGIs and selective pressure in Homo sapiens. We considered three histone modifications: histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3), histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac) and histone H3 lysine 36 trimethylation (H3K36me3), and we used the publicly available genomic-scale histone modification data of thirteen human cell lines. To define regions under selective pressure, we used three distinct signatures that mark selective events from different evolutionary periods. We found that CGIs under selective pressure showed significant enrichments for histone modifications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our result suggests that, CGIs that have undergone selective events are characterized by epigenetic signatures, in particular, histone modifications that are distinct from CGIs with no evidence of selection.
authors.affiliation: Gruppo Interdipartimentale di Bioinformatica e Biologia Computazionale, Università di Napoli Federico II, Università di Salerno, Naples, Italy. mauluda82@gmail.com
authors.forename: Most Mauluda
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scala
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cocozza
authors.forename: Gennaro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Miele
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Monticelli
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D002460:Cell Line; D002843:Chromatin; D019295:Computational Biology; D018899:CpG Islands; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006657:Histones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008239:Lysine / Q000378:metabolism*; D008745:Methylation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones; D008239:Lysine