表观遗传学涉及到DNA甲基化、组蛋白修饰、染色体重塑和非编码RNA调控等内容,其中组蛋白修饰包括组蛋白的乙酰化、磷酸化、甲基化、泛素化及ADP核糖基化等,这些多样化的修饰以及它们时间和空间上的组合与生物学功能的关系又可作为一种重要的表观标志或语言,因而被称为"组蛋白密码".相同组蛋白残基的磷酸化与去磷酸化、乙酰化与去乙酰化、甲基化与去甲基化等,以及不同组蛋白残基的磷酸化与乙酰化、泛素化与甲基化、磷酸化与甲基化等组蛋白修饰之间既相互协同又互相拮抗,形成了一个复杂的调节网络.对组蛋白修饰内在调节机制的研究将丰富"组蛋白密码"的内涵.
Epigenetics refers to non-coding sequence changes such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromosome remodeling and non-coding RNA regulation. Histone modifications include acetylation, phosphorylation, methylation, ubiquitination and ADP ribosylation. The combinations of different histone modifications, known as "histone code", are dynamic during development and differentiation and play important roles in the regulation of gene expressions in spatial-temporal manners. The modification on a particular residue in a histone affects not only the modifications at different residues in its own protein but also other histones. The histone modifications is a complicated network and the regulation remains elusive.