Histone acetyltransferase complexes

Modification of histone amino terminal tails by acetylation has long been l inked to the transcriptional capacity of genes in chromatin and to various aspects of chromatin dynamics. Over the last few years a flurry of reports have described the purification and identification of a large number of his tone acetyltransferases. Many of these enzymes had previously been describe d as transcriptional regulators and have frequently been isolated as part o f larger multisubunit protein complexes. This review describes the associat ion of acetyltransferases with partner proteins and the additional function al attributes of such complexes beyond catalytic function.