Talk:Heterochromatin
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Is it correct that histone modifications like methylation, and acetylation cause the compacting of DNA? There seems to be a trend in literature concerning epigentics where increased transcription is linked to these modifications.
The folding of DNA is a complex mechanism regulated by several proteins in addition to methylation, and acetylation, proteins (other than histons) are involved as well. The full process isn't understood yet. One can imagine that some genes or several next to one another need to be activated upon some intracellular signals. some of these proteins may play a role in that.
In general, acetylation of histones is associated with chromatin that contains genes that are actively being expressed; this acetylation can come from enzymes associated with transcription. Methylated histones are generally associated with chromatin that contains genes that are inactive or "silenced".
see also [1]
