Circadian cycling of genome-wide histone methylation. Mus musculus

Daily (circadian) clocks are essential for regulating and coordinating physiology in mammals. Modulation of local chromatin structure has been shown for only a small number of genes, principally thought to be directly modulated by Clock-mediated histone acetylation. Here we show that genome-wide changes of active and suppressive histone marks control global chromatin architecture over the day and night. Overall design: Examination of mouse liver tissue at 4 time-points around the clock in "free-running", continuous conditions (constant darkness, temperature and food available ad libitum).

昼夜节律（circadian）时钟对于哺乳动物的生理调控与协调运作不可或缺。目前仅在少数基因中发现了局部染色质结构的调控现象，此前普遍认为这些基因直接受Clock介导的组蛋白乙酰化调控。本研究证实，全基因组范围内的组蛋白激活标记与抑制标记的动态变化，可在昼夜周期中调控全局染色质构象。实验设计概述：在自由运行的持续条件（恒定黑暗、恒定温度且小鼠可自由摄取食物）下，于一昼夜内的4个时间点采集小鼠肝脏组织进行检测。