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.

PTMs relevant to epigenetics research

  • 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.

Products for western blot and ChIP applications

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.

ModificationSKURecommended for WBRecommended for ChIP
H3K4me1710795
H3K4me1703946
H3K4me2701764
H3K4me2710796
H3K4me3703954
H3K4me3711958
H3K9me1MA5-33385 
H3K9me1710814 
H3K9me2710815 
H3K9me349-1008 
H3K9me3713008
H3K27me149-1012 
H3K27me1712817
H3K27me1712855 
H3K27me1703825
H3K27me2PA5-96115 
H3K27me3MA5-11198 
H3K27me3713010
H3K36me1701766 
H3K36me2MA5-14867
H3K36me3MA5-24687
H3R2me1703943
H3R2me2s712893 
H3R8me2a712895 
H3R17me2a712898 
H4K20me1MA5-18067 
H4K20me1PA5-17027 
H4K20me1712989
H4K20me2720085 
H4K20me3701777 
H4K20me3703863 
ModificationSKURecommended for WBRecommended for ChIP
H3K4acMA5-24673
H3K4ac703913
H3K4ac712905
H3K5ac703914 
H3K9acMA5-33384 
H3K9ac701269 
H3K9ac703893
H3K9crMA5-33080 
H3K14acMA5-24668 
H3K14ac703894
H3K14ac712886
H3K18ac703896
H3K18ac712888
H3K18ac720095 
H3K18cr703472 
H3K23acMA5-24670 
H3K27acMA5-23516 
H3K27ac720096 
H3K27cr712478
H3K36acMA5-24672
H4K5acMA5-32009 
H4K5acPA5-40085 
H4K5ac712906 
H4K8ac701796
H4K8ac710828
H4K12acMA5-33388 
H4K12ac701797 
H4K12ac712991
H4K16acMA5-27794 
H4K16ac720083 
H4K20acMA5-33387 
H4K20ac710810 
ModificationSKURecommended for WBRecommended for ChIP
G3BP1704023 
H3R2me1711734
H3.3G34R703666 
H3.3G34V703662
H3.3G34W703836
H3.3KMMA5-33393
H3.3K4M703833
H3.3K4M712825
H3.3K9MMA5-33389
H3.3K9M702933
H3.3K27MMA5-27916 
H3.3K36M711967
HMGB1703997 

Applications

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 SNAP-ChIP K-MetStat Panel (EpiCypher Cat. No. 19-1001) was used to analyze the performance of H3K4me3 recombinant polyclonal antibody (Cat. No. 711958) in ChIP. SNAP-ChIP panels consist of a pool of DNA-barcoded recombinant nucleosomes harboring unique histone post-translational modifications (PTMs, on- and off-target) that are spiked into a ChIP reaction early in the workflow. The K-MetStat panel includes unmethylated, mono-, di-, and tri-methyl forms of H3K4, H3K9, H3K27, H3K36, and H4K20 nucleosomes. Recovery of each unique DNA-barcoded nucleosome is quantified to determine how much of each PTM is immunoprecipitated in the ChIP reaction. H3K4me3 antibody was tested in native ChIP with 3 µg K-652 cell chromatin and 3 µg antibody. Specificity (left Y-axis) was determined by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) to each modified nucleosome in the SNAP-ChIP K-MetStat panel (X-axis). The black bar represents antibody efficiency (right Y-axis; log scale) and indicates percentage of the barcoded nucleosome target immunoprecipitated relative to Input. All bars represent mean ± SEM.

* 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.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.