Analysis Of Histone Post-translational Modifications Research Articles

Quantitation of Single and Combinatorial Histone Modifications by Integrated Chromatography of Bottom-up Peptides and Middle-down Polypeptide Tails.

The analysis of histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) by mass spectrometry (MS) has been critical to the advancement of the field of epigenetics. The most sensitive and accurate workflow is similar to the canonical proteomics analysis workflow (bottom-up MS), where histones are digested into short peptides (4-20 aa) and quantitated in extracted ion chromatograms. However, this limits the ability to detect even very common co-occurrences of modifications on histone proteins, preventing biological interpretation of PTM crosstalk. By digesting with GluC rather than trypsin, it is possible to produce long polypeptides corresponding to intact histone N-terminal tails (50-60 aa), where most modifications reside. This middle-down MS approach is used to study distant PTM co-existence. However, the most sensitive middle-down workflow uses weak cation exchange-hydrophilic interaction chromatography (WCX-HILIC), which is less robust than conventional reversed-phase chromatography. Additionally, since the buffer systems for middle-down and bottom-up proteomics differ substantially, it is cumbersome to toggle back and forth between both experimental setups on the same LC system. Here, we present a new workflow using porous graphitic carbon (PGC) as a stationary phase for histone analysis where bottom-up and middle-down sized histone peptides can be analyzed simultaneously using the same reversed-phase buffer setup. By using this protocol for middle-down sized peptides, we identified 406 uniquely modified intact histone tails and achieved a correlation of 0.85 between PGC and WCX-HILICLC methods. Together, our method facilitates the analysis of single and combinatorial histone PTMs with much simpler applicability for conventional proteomics labs than the state-of-the-art middle-down MS.

HSWATH: Unlocking SWATH's Full Potential for an Untargeted Histone Perspective.

Mass spectrometry (MS) has become the technique of choice for large-scale analysis of histone post-translational modifications (hPTMs) and their combinatorial patterns, especially in untargeted settings where novel discovery-driven hypotheses are being generated. However, MS-based histone analysis requires a distinct sample preparation, acquisition, and data analysis workflow when compared to traditional MS-based approaches. To this end, sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment ion spectra (SWATH) has great potential, as it allows for untargeted accurate identification and quantification of hPTMs. Here, we present a complete SWATH workflow specifically adapted for the untargeted study of histones (hSWATH). We assess its validity on a technical dataset of time-lapse deacetylation of a commercial histone extract using HDAC1, which contains a ground truth, i.e., acetylated substrate peptides reduce in intensity. We successfully apply this workflow in a biological setting and subsequently investigate the differential response to HDAC inhibition in different breast cancer cell lines.

The Chromatin Environment Around Interneuron Genes in Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells and Their Potential for Interneuron Reprograming.

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), also known as NG2 glia, arise from neural progenitor cells in the embryonic ganglionic eminences that also generate inhibitory neurons. They are ubiquitously distributed in the central nervous system, remain proliferative through life, and generate oligodendrocytes in both gray and white matter. OPCs exhibit some lineage plasticity, and attempts have been made to reprogram them into neurons, with varying degrees of success. However, little is known about how epigenetic mechanisms affect the ability of OPCs to undergo fate switch and whether OPCs have a unique chromatin environment around neuronal genes that might contribute to their lineage plasticity. Our bioinformatic analysis of histone posttranslational modifications at interneuron genes in OPCs revealed that OPCs had significantly fewer bivalent and repressive histone marks at interneuron genes compared to astrocytes or fibroblasts. Conversely, OPCs had a greater degree of deposition of active histone modifications at bivalently marked interneuron genes than other cell types, and this was correlated with higher expression levels of these genes in OPCs. Furthermore, a significantly higher proportion of interneuron genes in OPCs than in other cell types lacked the histone posttranslational modifications examined. These genes had a moderately high level of expression, suggesting that the “no mark” interneuron genes could be in a transcriptionally “poised” or “transitional” state. Thus, our findings suggest that OPCs have a unique histone code at their interneuron genes that may obviate the need for erasure of repressive marks during their fate switch to inhibitory neurons.

Stability of histone post-translational modifications in samples derived from liver tissue and primary hepatic cells.

Chromatin structure, a key contributor to the regulation of gene expression, is modulated by a broad array of histone post-translational modifications (PTMs). Taken together, these “histone marks” comprise what is often referred to as the “histone code”. The quantitative analysis of histone PTMs by mass spectrometry (MS) offers the ability to examine the response of the histone code to physiological signals. However, few studies have examined the stability of histone PTMs through the process of isolating and culturing primary cells. To address this, we used bottom-up, MS-based analysis of histone PTMs in liver, freshly isolated hepatocytes, and cultured hepatocytes from adult male Fisher F344 rats. Correlations between liver, freshly isolated cells, and primary cultures were generally high, with R2 values exceeding 0.9. However, a number of acetylation marks, including those on H2A K9, H2A1 K13, H3 K4, H3 K14, H4 K8, H4 K12 and H4 K16 differed significantly among the three sources. Inducing proliferation of primary adult hepatocytes in culture affected several marks on histones H3.1/3.2 and H4. We conclude that hepatocyte isolation, culturing and cell cycle status all contribute to steady-state changes in the levels of a number of histone PTMs, indicating changes in histone marks that are rapidly induced in response to alterations in the cellular milieu. This has implications for studies aimed at assigning biological significance to histone modifications in tumors versus cancer cells, the developmental behavior of stem cells, and the attribution of changes in histone PTMs to altered cell metabolism.

PAT-H-MS coupled with laser microdissection to study histone post-translational modifications in selected cell populations from pathology samples

BackgroundAberrations in histone post-translational modifications (hPTMs) have been linked with various pathologies, including cancer, and could not only represent useful biomarkers but also suggest possible targetable epigenetic mechanisms. We have recently developed an approach, termed pathology tissue analysis of histones by mass spectrometry (PAT-H-MS), that allows performing a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of histone PTMs from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded pathology samples. Despite its great potential, the application of this technique is limited by tissue heterogeneity.MethodsIn this study, we further implemented the PAT-H-MS approach by coupling it with techniques aimed at reducing sample heterogeneity and selecting specific portions or cell populations within the samples, such as manual macrodissection and laser microdissection (LMD).ResultsWhen applied to the analysis of a small set of breast cancer samples, LMD-PAT-H-MS allowed detecting more marked changes between luminal A-like and triple negative patients as compared with the classical approach. These changes included not only the already known H3 K27me3 and K9me3 marks, but also H3 K36me1, which was found increased in triple negative samples and validated on a larger cohort of patients, and could represent a potential novel marker distinguishing breast cancer subtypes.ConclusionsThese results show the feasibility of applying techniques to reduce sample heterogeneity, including laser microdissection, to the PAT-H-MS protocol, providing new tools in clinical epigenetics and opening new avenues for the comprehensive analysis of histone post-translational modifications in selected cell populations.

Abstract 2392: A multiplex histone H3 PTM assay for epigenetic biomarker discovery in tissue biopsy and archived clinical samples

Abstract Dysregulation of epigenetic mechanisms is known to play an important role in the development and progression of cancer. One such mechanism is manifested as altered levels of histone modifications involved in regulating gene transcription. N-terminal histone tails can have a variety of modifications, such as phosphorylation, methylation and acetylation at specific amino acid residues which are conserved throughout eukaryotes and function by altering chromatin structure and creating binding sites for chromatin readers, writers or erasers. Numerous studies have reported aberrant global levels of several histone H3 and H4 post-translational modifications (PTMs) in a wide range of solid tumor types. These changes have been shown to be predictive of clinical outcome, raising the possibility that histone modifications have potential as epigenetic biomarkers. Clinical samples have immense potential for biomarker identification since they are often accompanied with valuable information pertaining to patient history, treatment courses and disease outcome. The preferred method for clinical sample preservation is formalin-fixation followed by paraffin embedding (FFPE). While extraction and downstream analysis of DNA and RNA from FFPE samples is now routine, proteomic studies of FFPE samples is hampered by extensive protein cross-linking generated by formalin fixation. Analysis of histone PTMs in patient archival samples is limited to low-throughput immunohistochemical staining, and is not an ideal approach for mining large sample cohorts for biomarker identification. Western blot or ELISA methods, which have large sample requirements, are simply not an option for FFPE samples. We have developed a multiplex bead-based ELISA assay which enables simultaneous interrogation of thirteen histone H3 PTMs. The assay is performed in 96-well plates and is ideally suited for profiling histone modification levels in limiting or small samples. We will present the application of this technology in a variety of sample types including frozen tissue, formaldehyde-cross linked cells and tissues, and in small molecule inhibitor screens with as few as 2,000 cells per well. The ability to simultaneous detect up to thirteen histone H3 PTMs provides a unique feature that enables determination of for on-target and off-target effects within the same sample. Citation Format: Mary Anne Jelinek, Melissa Ritland, AJ Westergren. A multiplex histone H3 PTM assay for epigenetic biomarker discovery in tissue biopsy and archived clinical samples [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2392. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2392

Recent Achievements in Characterizing the Histone Code and Approaches to Integrating Epigenomics and Systems Biology.

Functional epigenetic regulation occurs by dynamic modification of chromatin, including genetic material (i.e., DNA methylation), histone proteins, and other nuclear proteins. Due to the highly complex nature of the histone code, mass spectrometry (MS) has become the leading technique in identification of single and combinatorial histone modifications. MS has now overcome antibody-based strategies due to its automation, high resolution, and accurate quantitation. Moreover, multiple approaches to analysis have been developed for global quantitation of posttranslational modifications (PTMs), including large-scale characterization of modification coexistence (middle-down and top-down proteomics), which is not currently possible with any other biochemical strategy. Recently, our group and others have simplified and increased the effectiveness of analyzing histone PTMs by improving multiple MS methods and data analysis tools. This review provides an overview of the major achievements in the analysis of histone PTMs using MS with a focus on the most recent improvements. We speculate that the workflow for histone analysis at its state of the art is highly reliable in terms of identification and quantitation accuracy, and it has the potential to become a routine method for systems biology thanks to the possibility of integrating histone MS results with genomics and proteomics datasets.

Retrieving Quantitative Information of Histone PTMs by Mass Spectrometry.

Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of histones are one of the main research interests in the rapidly growing field of epigenetics. Accurate and precise quantification of these highly complex histone PTMs is critical for understanding the histone code and the biological significance behind it. It nonetheless remains a major analytical challenge. Mass spectrometry (MS) has been proven as a robust tool in retrieving quantitative information of histone PTMs, and a variety of MS-based quantitative strategies have been successfully developed and employed in basic research as well as clinical studies. In this chapter, we provide an overview for quantitative analysis of histone PTMs, often highly flexible and case dependent, as a primer for future experimental designs.

Persistent Insulin Resistance in Podocytes Caused by Epigenetic Changes of SHP-1 in Diabetes.

Poor glycemic control profoundly affects protein expression and the cell signaling action that contributes to glycemic memory and irreversible progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN). We demonstrate that SHP-1 is elevated in podocytes of diabetic mice, causing insulin unresponsiveness and DN. Thus, sustained SHP-1 expression caused by hyperglycemia despite systemic glucose normalization could contribute to the glycemic memory effect in DN. Microalbuminuria, glomerular filtration rate, mesangial cell expansion, and collagen type IV and transforming growth factor-β expression were significantly increased in diabetic Ins2+/C96Y mice compared with nondiabetic Ins2+/+ mice and remained elevated despite glucose normalization with insulin implants. A persistent increase of SHP-1 expression in podocytes despite normalization of systemic glucose levels was associated with sustained inhibition of the insulin signaling pathways. In cultured podocytes, high glucose levels increased mRNA, protein expression, and phosphatase activity of SHP-1, which remained elevated despite glucose concentration returning to normal, causing persistent insulin receptor-β inhibition. Histone posttranslational modification analysis showed that the promoter region of SHP-1 was enriched with H3K4me1 and H3K9/14ac in diabetic glomeruli and podocytes, which remained elevated despite glucose level normalization. Hyperglycemia induces SHP-1 promoter epigenetic modifications, causing its persistent expression and activity and leading to insulin resistance, podocyte dysfunction, and DN.

Systems Level Analysis of Histone H3 Post-translational Modifications (PTMs) Reveals Features of PTM Crosstalk in Chromatin Regulation

Histones are abundant chromatin constituents carrying numerous post-translational modifications (PTMs). Such PTMs mediate a variety of biological functions, including recruitment of enzymatic readers, writers and erasers that modulate DNA replication, transcription and repair. Individual histone molecules contain multiple coexisting PTMs, some of which exhibit crosstalk, i.e. coordinated or mutually exclusive activities. Here, we present an integrated experimental and computational systems level molecular characterization of histone PTMs and PTM crosstalk. Using wild type and engineered mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) knocked out in components of the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2, Suz12(-/-)), PRC1 (Ring1A/B(-/-)) and (Dnmt1/3a/3b(-/-)) we performed comprehensive PTM analysis of histone H3 tails (50 aa) by utilizing quantitative middle-down proteome analysis by tandem mass spectrometry. We characterized combinatorial PTM features across the four mESC lines and then applied statistical data analysis to predict crosstalk between histone H3 PTMs. We detected an overrepresentation of positive crosstalk (codependent marks) between adjacent mono-methylated and acetylated marks, and negative crosstalk (mutually exclusive marks) among most of the seven characterized di- and tri-methylated lysine residues in the H3 tails. We report novel features of PTM interplay involving hitherto poorly characterized arginine methylation and lysine methylation sites, including H3R2me, H3R8me and H3K37me. Integration of the H3 data with RNAseq data by coabundance clustering analysis of histone PTMs and histone modifying enzymes revealed correlations between PTM and enzyme levels. We conclude that middle-down proteomics is a powerful tool to determine conserved or dynamic interdependencies between histone marks, which paves the way for detailed investigations of the histone code. Histone H3 PTM data is publicly available in the CrossTalkDB repository at http://crosstalkdb.bmb.sdu.dk.

Comprehensive analysis of histone post-translational modifications in mouse and human male germ cells.

BackgroundDuring the process of spermatogenesis, male germ cells undergo dramatic chromatin reorganization, whereby most histones are replaced by protamines, as part of the pathway to compact the genome into the small nuclear volume of the sperm head. Remarkably, approximately 90 % (human) to 95 % (mouse) of histones are evicted during the process. An intriguing hypothesis is that post-translational modifications (PTMs) decorating histones play a critical role in epigenetic regulation of spermatogenesis and embryonic development following fertilization. Although a number of specific histone PTMs have been individually studied during spermatogenesis and in mature mouse and human sperm, to date, there is a paucity of comprehensive identification of histone PTMs and their dynamics during this process.ResultsHere we report systematic investigation of sperm histone PTMs and their dynamics during spermatogenesis. We utilized “bottom-up” nanoliquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC–MS/MS) to identify histone PTMs and to determine their relative abundance in distinct stages of mouse spermatogenesis (meiotic, round spermatids, elongating/condensing spermatids, and mature sperm) and in human sperm. We detected peptides and histone PTMs from all four canonical histones (H2A, H2B, H3, and H4), the linker histone H1, and multiple histone isoforms of H1, H2A, H2B, and H3 in cells from all stages of mouse spermatogenesis and in mouse sperm. We found strong conservation of histone PTMs for histone H3 and H4 between mouse and human sperm; however, little conservation was observed between H1, H2A, and H2B. Importantly, across eight individual normozoospermic human semen samples, little variation was observed in the relative abundance of nearly all histone PTMs.ConclusionIn summary, we report the first comprehensive and unbiased analysis of histone PTMs at multiple time points during mouse spermatogenesis and in mature mouse and human sperm. Furthermore, our results suggest a largely uniform histone PTM signature in sperm from individual humans.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13072-016-0072-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Complete Workflow for Analysis of Histone Post-translational Modifications Using Bottom-up Mass Spectrometry: From Histone Extraction to Data Analysis

Nucleosomes are the smallest structural unit of chromatin, composed of 147 base pairs of DNA wrapped around an octamer of histone proteins. Histone function is mediated by extensive post-translational modification by a myriad of nuclear proteins. These modifications are critical for nuclear integrity as they regulate chromatin structure and recruit enzymes involved in gene regulation, DNA repair and chromosome condensation. Even though a large part of the scientific community adopts antibody-based techniques to characterize histone PTM abundance, these approaches are low throughput and biased against hypermodified proteins, as the epitope might be obstructed by nearby modifications. This protocol describes the use of nano liquid chromatography (nLC) and mass spectrometry (MS) for accurate quantification of histone modifications. This method is designed to characterize a large variety of histone PTMs and the relative abundance of several histone variants within single analyses. In this protocol, histones are derivatized with propionic anhydride followed by digestion with trypsin to generate peptides of 5 - 20 aa in length. After digestion, the newly exposed N-termini of the histone peptides are derivatized to improve chromatographic retention during nLC-MS. This method allows for the relative quantification of histone PTMs spanning four orders of magnitude.

Complete Workflow for Analysis of Histone Post-translational Modifications Using Bottom-up Mass Spectrometry: From Histone Extraction to Data Analysis.

Nucleosomes are the smallest structural unit of chromatin, composed of 147 base pairs of DNA wrapped around an octamer of histone proteins. Histone function is mediated by extensive post-translational modification by a myriad of nuclear proteins. These modifications are critical for nuclear integrity as they regulate chromatin structure and recruit enzymes involved in gene regulation, DNA repair and chromosome condensation. Even though a large part of the scientific community adopts antibody-based techniques to characterize histone PTM abundance, these approaches are low throughput and biased against hypermodified proteins, as the epitope might be obstructed by nearby modifications. This protocol describes the use of nano liquid chromatography (nLC) and mass spectrometry (MS) for accurate quantification of histone modifications. This method is designed to characterize a large variety of histone PTMs and the relative abundance of several histone variants within single analyses. In this protocol, histones are derivatized with propionic anhydride followed by digestion with trypsin to generate peptides of 5 - 20 aa in length. After digestion, the newly exposed N-termini of the histone peptides are derivatized to improve chromatographic retention during nLC-MS. This method allows for the relative quantification of histone PTMs spanning four orders of magnitude.

Recent advances in mass spectrometry analysis of histone post-translational modifications: potential clinical impact of the PAT-H-MS approach

SUMMARYHistone post-translational modifications (hPTMs) contribute to the regulation of gene expression and increasing evidence links them to the development of various pathologies, highlighting their potential as biomarkers for prognostic, diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Mass spectrometry (MS) has emerged as a powerful analytical tool for hPTM analysis, which has also been applied to the analysis of epigenetic aberrations in diseases. However, the potential offered by the MS-based hPTM analysis of clinical samples for epigenetic biomarker discovery has been left largely unexploited. This article summarizes the contribution of MS-based approaches to clinical epigenetics, with a special focus on the PAThology tissue analysis of Histones by Mass Spectrometry (PAT-H-MS) approach – which represents the first application of MS-based hPTM analysis to formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded clinical samples – discussing its strengths and limitations, as well as possible implementations.

Mass-spectrometry analysis of histone post-translational modifications in pathology tissue using the PAT-H-MS approach.

Aberrant histone post-translational modifications (hPTMs) have been implicated with various pathologies, including cancer, and may represent useful epigenetic biomarkers. The data described here provide a mass spectrometry-based quantitative analysis of hPTMs from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues, from which histones were extracted through the recently developed PAT-H-MS method. First, we analyzed FFPE samples from mouse spleen and liver or human breast cancer up to six years old, together with their corresponding fresh frozen tissue. We then combined the PAT-H-MS approach with a histone-focused version of the super-SILAC strategy-using a mix of histones from four breast cancer cell lines as a spike-in standard- to accurately quantify hPTMs from breast cancer specimens belonging to different subtypes. The data, which are associated with a recent publication (Pathology tissue-quantitative mass spectrometry analysis to profile histone post-translational modification patterns in patient samples (Noberini, 2015) [1]), are deposited at the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD002669.

Identification and Quantification of Histone PTMs Using High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry.

DNA is organized into nucleosomes, composed of 147 base pairs of DNA wrapped around an octamer of histone proteins including H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. Histones are critical regulators of many nuclear processes, including transcription, DNA damage repair, and higher order chromatin structure. Much of their function is mediated through extensive and dynamic posttranslational modification (PTM) by nuclear enzymes. Histone PTMs are thought to form a code, where combinations of PTMs are responsible for specific biological functions. Here, we present protocols to identify and quantify histone PTMs using nanoflow liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (MS). We first describe how to purify histones and prepare them for MS. We then describe three MS platforms for histone PTM analysis, including bottom-up, middle-down, and top-down approaches, and explain the relative benefits and pitfalls of each approach. We also include tips to increase the throughput of large experiments.

Comparison of reliabilities of mass spectrometry-based label-free quantitation methods for histone post-translational modification analysis

Comparison of reliabilities of mass spectrometry-based label-free quantitation methods for histone post-translational modification analysis

The Contribution of Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics to Understanding Epigenetics

Chromatin is a macromolecular complex composed of DNA and histones that regulate gene expression and nuclear architecture. The concerted action of DNA methylation, histone post-translational modifications and chromatin-associated proteins control the epigenetic regulation of the genome, ultimately determining cell fate and the transcriptional outputs of differentiated cells. Deregulation of this complex machinery leads to disease states, and exploiting epigenetic drugs is becoming increasingly attractive for therapeutic intervention. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics emerged as a powerful tool complementary to genomic approaches for epigenetic research, allowing the unbiased and comprehensive analysis of histone post-translational modifications and the characterization of chromatin constituents and chromatin-associated proteins. Furthermore, MS holds great promise for epigenetic biomarker discovery and represents a useful tool for deconvolution of epigenetic drug targets. Here, we will provide an overview of the applications of MS-based proteomics in various areas of chromatin biology.

Quantification of SAHA-Dependent Changes in Histone Modifications Using Data-Independent Acquisition Mass Spectrometry.

Histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) are important regulators of chromatin structure and gene expression. Quantitative analysis of histone PTMs by mass spectrometry remains extremely challenging due to the complex and combinatorial nature of histone PTMs. The most commonly used mass spectrometry-based method for high-throughput histone PTM analysis is data-dependent acquisition (DDA). However, stochastic precursor selection and dependence on MS1 ions for quantification impede comprehensive interrogation of histone PTM states using DDA methods. To overcome these limitations, we utilized a data-independent acquisition (DIA) workflow that provides superior run-to-run consistency and postacquisition flexibility in comparison to DDA methods. In addition, we developed a novel DIA-based methodology to quantify isobaric, co-eluting histone peptides that lack unique MS2 transitions. Our method enabled deconvolution and quantification of histone PTMs that are otherwise refractory to quantitation, including the heavily acetylated tail of histone H4. Using this workflow, we investigated the effects of the histone deacetylase inhibitor SAHA (suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid) on the global histone PTM state of human breast cancer MCF7 cells. A total of 62 unique histone PTMs were quantified, revealing novel SAHA-induced changes in acetylation and methylation of histones H3 and H4.

In-gel NHS-propionate derivatization for histone post-translational modifications analysis in Arabidopsis thaliana

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) on histone are highly correlated with genetic and epigenetic regulation of gene expression from chromatin. Mass spectrometry (MS) has developed to be an optimal tool for the identification and quantification of histone PTMs. Derivatization of histones with chemicals such as propionic anhydride, N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (NHS-propionate) has been widely used in histone PTMs analysis in bottom-up MS strategy, which requires high purity for histone samples. However, biological samples are not always prepared with high purity, containing detergents or other interferences in most cases. As an alternative approach, an adaptation of in gel derivatization method, termed In-gel NHS, is utilized for a broader application in histone PTMs analysis and it is shown to be a more time-saving preparation method.The proposed method was optimized for a better derivatization efficiency and displayed high reproducibility, indicating quantification of histone PTMs based on In-gel NHS was achievable. Without any traditional fussy histone purification procedures, we succeeded to quantitatively profile the histone PTMs from Arabidopsis with selective knock down of CLF (clf-29) and the original parental (col) with In-gel NHS method in a rapid way, which indicated the high specificity of CLF on H3K27me3 in Arabidopsis. In-gel NHS quantification results also suggest distinctive histone modification patterns in plants, which is invaluable foundation for future studies on histone modifications in plants.