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Asymmetrically modified nucleosomes expand the histone code

According to the 'classical' view, histone modifications are established in an identical fashion on both copies of each of the four core histones, resulting in 'symmetrically' modified nucleosomes. Now, a new study challenges this notion by demonstrating that asymmetric histone modifications exist on individual mononucleosomes in native chromatin and that symmetric and asymmetric modifications signal different biological outcomes, suggesting a radically expanded histone code.

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Figure 1: Reaction models for the generation of symmetrically and asymmetrically modified nucleosomes.
Figure 2: Complex PTM topologies in higher-order chromatin.

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Correspondence to Philipp Selenko.

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van Rossum, B., Fischle, W. & Selenko, P. Asymmetrically modified nucleosomes expand the histone code. Nat Struct Mol Biol 19, 1064–1066 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2433

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