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50 years of protein acetylation: from gene regulation to epigenetics, metabolism and beyond

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 16, pages 258–264 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

In 1964, Vincent Allfrey and colleagues reported the identification of histone acetylation and with deep insight proposed a regulatory role for this protein modification in transcription regulation. Subsequently, histone acetyltransferases (HATs), histone deacetylases (HDACs) and acetyl-Lys-binding proteins were identified as transcription regulators, thereby providing compelling evidence for his daring hypothesis. During the past 15 years, reversible protein acetylation and its modifying enzymes have been implicated in many cellular functions beyond transcription regulation. Here, we review the progress accomplished during the past 50 years and discuss the future of protein acetylation.

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Figure 1: Publications on protein acetylation.
Figure 2: Vincent Allfrey (1921–2002): acetylation pioneer.
Figure 3: Milestones in protein acetylation.
Figure 4: Histone acetylation, chromatin condensation and gene expression.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Allis, L. Pilus and P. Cole for discussions during the preparation of this manuscript. Work in the laboratories of E.V. and M.O. is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and by the Gladstone Institutes. We apologize to colleagues whose work we could not cite owing to space limitations.

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  1. Eric Verdin and Melanie Ott are at the Gladstone Institutes, University of California, San Francisco, 1650 Owens Street, San Francisco, California 94158, USA.,

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Correspondence to Eric Verdin.

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E.V. was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of SIRTRIS/GSK, a company commercializing sirtuin discoveries, until 30 September 2014. He is also a founder of Acylin, a company commercializing HAT inhibitors. M.O. declares no competing interests.

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Verdin, E., Ott, M. 50 years of protein acetylation: from gene regulation to epigenetics, metabolism and beyond. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 16, 258–264 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm3931

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