Histone Modification Patterns and Their Responses to Environment

Abstract

Histone modifications play important roles in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Recent genome-wide profiling of histone modifications with deep sequencing-based methods provides novel insights of crosstalk between histone modifications, leading to recent proposals of histone “language” or “web” as an alternative of “code” to appreciate combinatorial modification patterns. Environmental factor–altered histone modifications now may be addressed dynamically and systematically with the recognition and use of these interesting combinatorial patterns.