ADP-ribosylation of histones by ARTD1: an additional module of the histone code?

Institute of Veterinary Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. hottiger@vetbio.uzh.ch

FEBS letters 2011 Jun 6

ADP-ribosylation is a covalent post-translational protein modification catalyzed by ADP-ribosyltransferases and is involved in important processes such as cell cycle regulation, DNA damage response, replication or transcription. Histones are ADP-ribosylated by ADP-ribosyltransferase diphtheria toxin-like 1 at specific amino acid residues, in particular lysines, of the histones tails. Specific ADP-ribosyl hydrolases and poly-ADP-ribose glucohydrolases degrade the ADP-ribose polymers. The ADP-ribose modification is read by zinc finger motifs or macrodomains, which then regulate chromatin structure and transcription. Thus, histone ADP-ribosylation may be considered an additional component of the histone code. Copyright © 2011 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.