Understanding the role and mechanism of fact histone chaperone through single-molecule fluorescence imaging

Abstract

Modifications of histones in eukaryotic cells cause reversible gene changes without alterations in the genetic code itself. Modified histones are distributed between the daughter DNA strands and serve as carriers of epigenetic memory. Histone chaperones are involved in remodeling the nucleosome during transcription and replication, and our recent genetic experiments indicate that chaperones are involved in epigenetic maintenance. In particular, we found that deleting Pob3, one of the essential protein subunits of the Facilitates Chromatin Transcription (FACT) histone chaperone, suppresses epigenetic inheritance.