DNA damage challenges both genome integrity and its organization with histone proteins into chromatin, with prominent alterations in histone variant dynamics and histone modifications. While these alterations jeopardize epigenome stability, they are also instrumental for an efficient and timely response to DNA damage. Here, we review recent findings illustrating how histone variants and post-translational modifications actively contribute to and control the DNA damage response. We present accumulating evidence that histone protein changes help relieve the chromatin barrier to DNA repair by regulating chromatin compaction and mobility. We also highlight how histone modifications and variants control transcriptional silencing at damage sites, and we describe both pre-existing and DNA damage-induced chromatin features that govern DNA damage signaling and guide DNA repair pathway choice. We discuss how histone dynamics ultimately participate to the restoration of epigenome integrity and present our current knowledge of key molecular players involved in these critical processes.

DNA 损伤挑战基因组完整性及其与组蛋白进入染色质的组织，组蛋白变体动力学和组蛋白修饰发生显着改变。虽然这些改变危及表观基因组的稳定性，但它们也有助于对 DNA 损伤做出有效和及时的反应。在这里，我们回顾了最近的研究结果，说明组蛋白变体和翻译后修饰如何积极促进和控制 DNA 损伤反应。我们提出越来越多的证据表明，组蛋白的变化通过调节染色质的压缩和流动性来帮助缓解 DNA 修复的染色质屏障。我们还强调了组蛋白修饰和变异如何控制损伤位点的转录沉默，我们描述了控制 DNA 损伤信号传导和指导 DNA 修复途径选择的预先存在的和 DNA 损伤诱导的染色质特征。我们讨论了组蛋白动力学最终如何参与表观基因组完整性的恢复，并展示了我们目前对参与这些关键过程的关键分子参与者的了解。