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Post-translational modification of histones can profoundly affect chromatin structure and function. The discovery that histone H3 Arg2 methylation is a widespread silencing modification that inhibits histone H3 Lys4 trimethylation extends our understanding of how active and silenced chromatin states are maintained.
Two new studies point to a heretofore underappreciated mechanism by which chromatin higher-order structure can be regulated by surfaces in the nucleosome that are not associated with DNA.
Starting with the structure of the nucleosome and continuing with histone modifications, chromatin-remodeling complexes, silencing factors and more, a detailed and dynamic picture of chromosomal DNA transactions has emerged.