An in vitro assay to study the recruitment and substrate specificity of chromatin modifying enzymes.

The article presents a novel assay designed for the recruitment and sequential targeting of distinct histone modifying enzymes or histone deactylases (HDAC) to immobilized nucleosomal templates using recombinant chimeric targeting molecules. The assay can be used to study the histone substrate specificity of chromatin modifying enzymes and if and how certain enzymes affect each other's histone modifying activities. According to the authors, the assay can also be used to understand how the histone code is established and interpreted.