Histone Methylation

Histone methylation antibodies, activity kits, and modified nucleosomes for chromatin research

When you need to measure or modulate methylation of lysine and arginine residues on histone proteins, this section covers the reagents. Methylation-specific antibodies, peptide standards, methyltransferase and demethylase activity kits, ChIP-grade reference reagents, and modified-nucleosome substrates. Marks of greatest interest: H3K4me3 (active promoters), H3K27me3 (Polycomb-repressed), H3K9me3 (heterochromatin), H3K36me3 (gene-body active), H4K20me3.

Pick by mark and assay format.

1. Mark. Each lysine and methyl state has its own reagents and antibodies. Verify antibody discriminates mono-, di-, tri-methyl forms.
2. Format. Peptide-based fluorogenic for enzymatic kinetics. Nucleosome-based for physiological context. ChIP-grade antibody for genome-wide mapping. ELISA for global methylation.
3. Substrate fidelity. Full-length recombinant nucleosomes outperform peptide substrates for kinetic and inhibitor work.
4. Validation. SNAP-ChIP spike-in controls or peptide microarrays prove antibody specificity.
5. Drug screening. Use nucleosome substrates rather than peptides; peptide-only screens routinely produce hits that fail when retested on nucleosomes.

EpigenTek dominates assay kits and ELISA quantification. Arbor Assays focuses on methyltransferase activity assays.