Abstract
In addition to DNA sequence information, site-specific histone modifications are another important determinant of gene expression in a eukaryotic organism. We selected four modification sites in common histones that are known to significantly impact chromatin function and generated monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies that recognize each of those site-specific modifications. We used these antibodies to demonstrate that the site-specific histone modification levels remain relatively constant in different organs of the same organism. We also compared the levels of selected histone modifications among several representative organisms and found that site-specific modifications are highly variable among different organisms, providing new insight into the evolutionary divergence of specific histone modifications.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Shunong Bai for providing Calf histone protein sample, Yuling Jiao, Ligeng Ma, and Jiwan Qiu for helpful discussion and suggestions in antibody production, Ning Cai, Ting Fu, and Taotao Lao of the Chinese Division of Epitomics Biotech Co. Ltd. for production of monoclonal antibodies, and Valerie J Karplus for critical reading of this manuscript. This research was funded by the Hi-Tech Research and Development Program of China (Grant 2003-AA210070).
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Guo, L., Yin, B., Zhou, J. et al. Development of rabbit monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies for detection of site-specific histone modifications and their application in analyzing overall modification levels. Cell Res 16, 519–527 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.cr.7310063
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.cr.7310063