Evaluation of post-translational modifications in histone proteins: A review on histone modification defects in developmental and neurological disorders

ABSTRACT

Post-translational modification (PTM) in histone proteins is a covalent modification which mainly consists ofmethylation, phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitylation, SUMOylation, glycosylation, and ADP-ribosylation.PTMs have fundamental roles in chromatin structure and function. Histone modifications have also beenknown as epigenetic markers. The PTMs that have taken place in histone proteins can affect gene expressionby altering chromatin structure. Histone modifications act in varied biological processes such as transcriptionalactivation/inactivation, chromosome packaging, mitosis, meiosis, apoptosis, and DNA damage/repair. Defectsin the PTMs pathway have been associated with the occurrence and progression of various human diseases,such as cancer, heart failure, autoimmune diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’sdisease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. Histone modifications are reversible and used aspotential targets for cancer therapy and prevention. Recent different histone PTMs have key roles in cancercells since it has been shown that histone PTMs markers in cancers are acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, and ubiquitylation. In this review, we have summarized the six most studied histone modifications andhave examined the role of these modifications in the development of cancer.