Daniel Y. Lee, J. Hayes, D. Pruss
Jan 15, 1993
Citations
32
Influential Citations
1,137
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Cell
Abstract
Acetylation of the N-terminal tails of the core histones directly facilitates the recognition by TFIIIA of the 5S RNA gene within model chromatin templates. This effect is independent of a reduction in the extent of histone-DNA interactions or a change in DNA helical repeat; it is also independent of whether a histone tetramer or octamer inhibits TFIIIA binding. Removal of the N-terminal tails from the core histones also facilitates the association of TFIIIA with nucleosomal templates. We suggest that the histone tails have a major role in restricting transcription factor access to DNA and that their acetylation releases this restriction by directing dissociation of the tails from DNA and/or inducing a change in DNA configuration on the histone core to allow transcription factor binding. Acetylation of core histones might be expected to exert a major influence on the accessibility of chromatin to regulatory molecules.