Histone modifications were discovered many years ago, and their importance was suggested by the correlation between the level of acetylation and gene activity. Over the years, the number of known histone modifications grew steadily, and exploded over the last ten years to include novel modifications associated with gene repression, histone exchange and genomic integrity. Furthermore, gigantic steps forward were made when the enzymes responsible for writing and erasing these marks were discovered, allowing for a more thorough interrogation of the consequences of these modifications on the genome. This issue will provide a review of recent advances in the field of epigenetic control and histone modifications. >> Read rest of preface
Song Tan Song Tan studied physics as an undergraduate at Cornell University (1985) and then performed his PhD thesis research at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge (1989). He trained as a postdoctoral fellow and subsequently as a Oberassistant (Project Leader) with Tim Richmond at the ETH-Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) where he determined the crystal structures of several transcription factors/DNA complexes. Dr. Tan joined the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State in 1998 and he has named a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences in 2001. Dr. Tan and his colleagues investigate how chromatin enzymes interact with their nucleosome substrate through biochemical and structural approaches.
Joseph Reese
Joseph Reese is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and member of the Center for Eukaryotic Gene Regulation at The Pennsylvania State University. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, working on the molecular actions of estrogen angonists and antagonists. He was a postdoctoral fellow of the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fund at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center where he identified and characterized TBP-associated factors from budding yeast. His research interests are in the mechanisms of chromatin remodeling and gene transcription and his current work is on the regulation of DNA damage induced genes in yeast. His work on the ribonucleotide reductase genes has revealed mechanisms of co-repressor actions and provided the first description of a role for the general transcription machinery, especially TFIID, in the remodeling of chromatin at promoters. He has served on multiple study sections at the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association and current serves on two Editorial Boards.
