title: The D-isoAsp-25 variant of histone H2B is highly enriched in active chromatin: potential role in the regulation of gene expression?
abstract: Approximately 12 % of histone H2B in mammalian brain contains an unusual D-aspartate residue in its N-terminal tail. Most of this D-aspartate is linked to the C-flanking glycine via an isopeptide bond. To explore the possible significance of these modifications, we generated an antibody to the D-isoaspartyl form of H2B, and used it to assess its levels in H2B associated with "active" vs. "silent" chromatin. We found that the D-isoaspartyl form of H2B appears to be highly enriched in the former. This irreversible modification could serve a novel regulatory function in gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, 3205 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA, 92697-3900, USA. zhenxiaq@163.com.|Department of Anatomy, School of Basic Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China. zhenxiaq@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhenxia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, 3205 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA, 92697-3900, USA. jz@usp.org.|USP-China, No. 520 North Fute Road, Waigaoqlao Free Trade Zone, Shanghai, 200131, China. jz@usp.org.
authors.forename: Jeff X
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, 3205 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA, 92697-3900, USA. dwaswad@uci.edu.
authors.forename: Dana W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Aswad
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D026603:D-Aspartic Acid / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D006657:Histones / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D008745:Methylation; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D026601:Protein D-Aspartate-L-Isoaspartate Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones; D026603:D-Aspartic Acid; D026601:Protein D-Aspartate-L-Isoaspartate Methyltransferase
keywords: Chromatin; D-Aspartate; Histone; Isoaspartate; Isomerization; Methylation