Histone methylation is required for the establishment and maintenance of gene expression patterns that determine cellular identity, and its perturbation often leads to aberrant development and disease. Recruitment of histone methyltransferases (HMTs) to gene regulatory elements (GREs) of developmental genes is important for the correct activation and silencing of these genes, but the drivers of this recruitment are largely unknown. Here we propose that lineage-instructive transcription factors (Lin-TFs) act as general recruiters of HMT complexes to cell type-specific GREs through protein–protein interactions. We also postulate that the specificity of these interactions is dictated by Lin-TF post-translational modifications (PTMs), which act as a ‘transcription factor code’ that can determine the directionality of cell fate decisions during differentiation and development.

组蛋白甲基化是确定细胞身份的基因表达模式的建立和维持所必需的，其扰动通常会导致异常发育和疾病。将组蛋白甲基转移酶 (HMT) 募集到发育基因的基因调控元件 (GRE) 对这些基因的正确激活和沉默很重要，但这种募集的驱动因素在很大程度上是未知的。在这里，我们提出谱系指导性转录因子（Lin-TFs）作为 HMT 复合物通过蛋白质 - 蛋白质相互作用向细胞类型特异性 GREs 的一般招募者。我们还假设这些相互作用的特异性是由 Lin-TF 翻译后修饰 (PTM) 决定的，