nature07年大牛 表观遗传学相关.pdfVIP

NATURE|Vol 447 |24 May 2007|doi:10.1038/nature05915 INSIGHT REVIEW The complex language of chromatin regulation during transcription Shelley L. Berger1 An important development in understanding the influence of chromatin on gene regulation has been the finding that DNA methylation and histone post-translational modifications lead to the recruitment of protein complexes that regulate transcription. Early interpretations of this phenomenon involved gene regulation reflecting predictive activating or repressing types of modification. However, further exploration reveals that transcription occurs against a backdrop of mixtures of complex modifications, which probably have several roles. Although such modifications were initially thought to be a simple code, a more likely model is of a sophisticated, nuanced chromatin ‘language’ in which different combinations of basic building blocks yield dynamic functional outcomes. Every global traveller has experienced the disorientation of being unable But nature may not be this simple. Recent observations suggest that, to speak the local language. At present, those in the field of chromatin in many cases, there is not a strict division between active and repres- regulation and epigenetics are in a similar position. Like the traveller sive modification states. Instead, many of these marks have several, who hears words he or she does not understand, we are faced with obser- seemingly conflicting roles. This conflict can be explained by recent vations that cannot be neatly categorized within previous models. observations indicating that the function of these chromatin marks is Chromatin carries numerous histone and DNA modifications, and more complex than previously thought. A prominent feature of a revised some of these are associated with transcription. There