A new world of Polycombs: unexpected partnerships and emerging functions.
Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are epigenetic repressors that are essential for the transcriptional control of cell differentiation and development. PcG-mediated repression is associated with specific post-translational histone modifications and is thought to involve both biochemical and physical modulation of chromatin structure. Recent advances show that PcG complexes comprise a multiplicity of variants and are far more biochemically diverse than previously thought. The importance of these new PcG complexes for normal development and disease, their targeting mechanisms and their shifting roles in the course of differentiation are now the subject of investigation and the focus of this Review.
Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, Byggnad 6L, Norrlands University Hospital, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
Yuri B
YB
Schwartz
Vincenzo
V
Pirrotta
D000818:Animals; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008745:Methylation; D063146:Polycomb-Group Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D006657:Histones; D063146:Polycomb-Group Proteins