1906: First Patient
Auguste Deter is diagnosed as the first Alzheimer's disease patient by Dr. Alois Alzheimer. He discovered plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the autopsy.
1962: Methylation
Methylation is the process of adding methyl groups to a molecule. Since methyl groups are chemically inactive, adding them to proteins affect how the proteins behave.
1964: Acetylation
Acetylation is the introduction of an acetyl group into a compound. Acetylation of histones allows for DNA binding proteins to activate gene transcription.
1975: Phosphorylation
Phosphorylation is an important mechanism by which the activity of proteins can be altered after they are formed. It is the attachment of a phosphoryl group to a molecule.
1977: Ubiquitylation
Ubiquitylation is the process of attaching ubiquitin, a small protein found in most eukaryotic organisms' tissues, to another targeted protein.
Discovery of Epigenetic Histone Modifications