Figure 1 | Schematic of the structure of histones in nucleosomes.   a | The core proteins of nucleosomes are designated H2A (histone 2A), H2B (histone 2B), H3 (histone 3) and H4 (histone 4). Each histone is present in two copies, so the DNA (black) wraps around an octamer of histones — the core nucleosome. b | The amino-terminal tails of core histones. Lysines (K) in the amino-terminal tails of histones H2A, H2B, H3 and H4 are potential acetylation/deacetylation sites for histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs). Acetylation neutralizes the charge on lysines. A, acetyl; C, carboxyl terminus; E, glutamic acid; M, methyl; N, amino terminus; P, phosphate; S, serine; Ub, ubiquitin. (Adapted from Ref. 31).

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