Histone Antibodies

Histones are proteins that package genomic DNA into nucleosomes. This compaction allows for around two meters of DNA to fit into a cell’s nucleus. Nucleosomes contain two subunits, each made of histones H2A, H2B, H3, or H4, forming a histone octamer. Histones are subject to many forms of post-translational modifications (PTMs) which serve as epigenetic marks to signal activation or repression of gene expression and to alter chromatin compaction. These modifications lead to steric changes in chromatin structure that regulate various cellular processes such as transcription, replication, and DNA repair. Our growing portfolio of traditional and recombinant antibodies is designed to enable detection and characterization of histone modifications.

• Methylation—one, two, or three methyl groups are added to lysine or arginine. In the case of histones, histone methyltransferases (HMTs) have specificity for the histone residues and mono-, di-, or trimethylation.
• Acetylation—the acetyl group from acetyl coenzyme A is added to specific histone lysine residues by histone acetyltransferases (HATs), and acetyl groups are removed by specific histone deacetylases (HDACs). Acetylation is generally associated with gene activation. In addition to acetylation, there are other forms of acylation such as crotonylation and butyrylation, the roles of which are just being investigated.
• Phosphorylation—kinases phosphorylate specific serines, threonines, or tyrosines on histones, and dephosphorylation is carried out by phosphatases. Phosphorylation often occurs during DNA repair and mitosis.
• Ubiquitination—ubiquitin is added by an E3 ligase and removed by a deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB). Although, ubiquitination often is a mark for protein degradation, in this case ubiquitination is an epigenetic marker.

All the products below have been validated* by either peptide array or SNAP-ChIP (Sample Normalization and Antibody Profiling Chromatin Immunoprecipitation) and tested to work in the applications listed–see the application section for data examples. Peptide array testing shows epitopes or linearized peptides and is very good at qualifying antibodies for applications where epitopes are denatured, like western blot (WB). SNAP-ChIP, a spike-in of recombinant nucleosomes into a ChIP (Chromatin Immunoprecipitation) experiment, assays for epitopes that recognize the modification in the context of a nucleosome and is very good at qualifying antibodies for applications where epitopes are in native conformations, like ChIP. Learn more about our antibody validation procedures

More histone antibodies are continuously being developed and qualified, so check back if you don’t see an antibody of interest listed for a specific target in these tables.

Our growing portfolio of traditional and recombinant antibodies is designed to enable detection and characterization of epigenetics targets with exceptional specificity to particular post-translational modifications and reproducibility in the form of antibody lot-to-lot consistency.

* The use or any variation of the word “validation” refers only to research use antibodies that were subject to functional testing to confirm that the antibody can be used with the research techniques indicated. It does not ensure that the product(s) was validated for clinical or diagnostic uses.