The emergence of a nucleosome-based chromatin structure accompanied the evolutionary transition from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. In this scenario, histones became the heart of the complex and precisely timed coordination between chromatin architecture and functions during adaptive responses to environmental influence by means of epigenetic mechanisms. Notably, such an epigenetic machinery involves an overwhelming number of post-translational modifications at multiple residues of core and linker histones. This review aims to comprehensively describe old and recent evidence in this exciting field of research. In particular, histone post-translational modification establishing/removal mechanisms, their genomic locations and implication in nucleosome dynamics and chromatin-based processes, as well as their harmonious combination and interdependence will be discussed.
Keywords: chromatin; epigenetics; histone post-translational modifications; nucleosome.