A phosphorylated subpopulation of the histone variant macroH2A1 is excluded from the inactive X chromosome and enriched during mitosis.

ABSTRACT: Histone variants play an important role in numerous biological processes through changes in nucleosome structure and stability and possibly through mechanisms influenced by posttranslational modifications unique to a histone variant. The family of histone H2A variants includes members such as H2A.Z, the DNA damage-associated H2A.X, macroH2A (mH2A), and H2ABbd (Barr body-deficient). Here, we have undertaken the challenge to decipher the posttranslational modification-mediated "histone code" of mH2A, a variant generally associated with certain forms of condensed chromatin such as the inactive X chromosome in female mammals. By using female human cells as a source of mH2A, endogenous mH2A was purified and analyzed by mass spectrometry. Although mH2A is in low abundance compared with conventio

SUBMITTER: Bernstein E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2234179 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature