Cracking the survival code Autophagy-related histone modifications

Modifications of histones, the chief protein components of the chromatin, have emerged as critical regulators of life and death. While the apoptotic histone code came to light a few years ago, accumulating evidence indicates that autophagy, a cell survival pathway, is also heavily regulated by histone-modifying proteins. In this review we describe the emerging autophagic histone code and the role of histone modifications in the cellular life vs. death decision.