Nucleosomes and epigenetics from a chemical perspective

Abstract

Nucleosomes, which are the fundamental building blocks of chromatin, are highly dynamic and play vital roles in the formation of higher‐order chromatin structures and orchestrate gene regulation. Nucleosome structures, histone modifications, nucleosome‐binding proteins, and their functions are being gradually unravelled with the development of epigenetics. With continuous development of research approaches such as cryo‐EM, FRET and next generation sequencing for genome wide analysis of nucleosomes, understanding of nucleosome is getting wider and deeper. Here, we review recent progress in the researches on nucleosomes and epigenetics, from nucleosome structure to chromatin formation with a focus on chemical aspects. Basic knowledge of nucleosome (nucleosome structure, nucleosome position sequence, nucleosome assembly and remodelling), epigenetic modifications, chromatin structure, chemical biology methods and nucleosome, observation nucleosome by AFM, phase separation and nucleosome are described in this review.