Although this study indicated the importance of histone modifications for the regulation of metabolites in Aspergillus nidulans, further investigations will be necessary to elucidate the specific role of acetylation and of the enzymes involved.
The eukaryotic and metazoan circadian rhythm, present in most but not all organisms, requires chromatin remodeling and modifications for proper regulation because the core mechanism underlying all eukaryotic clocks is a transcriptional negative feedback loop.
The fact that several kinases can phosphorylate Serine 46 suggests that this may be a very important modification for the regulation and function of p53.
In common with this present study, all of these data show the importance of moving beyond simple protein identification to a more detailed analysis of complex proteome dynamics, including the analysis of selective regulation of distinct protein isoforms and post-translational modifications for deciphering cellular regulation mechanisms.
Whether glycosylation of Btn1p and subsequent localization to the vacuole are simply the positioning of this protein in a compartment to perform its regulatory role, or whether the posttranslational modification is required for regulation of the activity of Btn1p itself will require further study.
More broadly, this study strengthens the importance of histone posttranslational modifications for the differential regulation of transcriptional programs in cognitive processes.
DNA methylation is an essential epigenetic gene silencing mechanism which interplays with histone modifications and nucleosome occupancy for regulation of tissue-specific gene expression patterns and chromatin architecture in mammalian cells [ 1].
Chou, H.-J., Donnard, E., Gustafsson, H. T., Garber, M. & Rando, O. J. Transcriptome-wide analysis of roles for tRNA modifications in translational regulation.
Recent large scale genome profiling experiments have revealed general roles for histone modifications in gene regulation whereby histone H3 methylation on lysine 4 (K4) is gene activating, and methylation on lysine 9 (K9) is gene silencing [8], [9].
In Entamoeba invadens, a parasite of reptiles, a role for histone modifications in the regulation of stage conversion has been proposed.
Histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) serve important functions for regulation of gene expression, DNA repair, and chromatin structure.
