Top-down characterization of chicken core histones.

Core histones and their PTMs play important roles in regulating gene transcription and other DNA-related processes. The study of core histones PTMs, their cross-talk and functional roles is not only of broad biological significance but also of wide pathological and clinical relevance. Having the strength of comprehensive proteoform identification with 100% amino acid sequence coverage and combinatorial PTMs, top-down proteomics has become the state-of-the-art analytical tool for combinatorial PTM characterization of core histones. In this study, we report our top-down characterization of chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) core histones, which have been widely used as models for chromosome re-construction among others because of easy availability and not-so-dense PTMs. With nanoRPLC-MS/MS analysis and ProteinGoggle database search, a total of 58 proteoforms were identified for the core histone families of H4, H2B, H2A, and H3.