Differential Stimulation of Histone and High Mobility Group Chromatin Protein Synthesis in the Rat Uterus by Estrogen

Uterine tissue isolated from immature rats at different times after estradiol injection was incubated with medium containing [3H]lysine. The acid-extractable protein from the uterine tissue was subjected to electrophoresis on sodium dodecyl sulfate and acid-urea-Triton X-100 polyacrylamide gels, and the rate of chromatin protein synthesis determined by densitometric analysis of the fluorographs of the gels. Synthesis of chromatin proteins (histones and high mobility group chromatin proteins) was stimulated by 3 h after estrogen treatment and reached a peak at 9 h, several hours before DNA synthesis was stimulated. Synthesis of chromatin proteins occurred at the same time as total cellular protein synthesis. Estrogen stimulated the synthesis of histone variants at different rates, but the accumulation of histone proteins remained coordinated such that equivalent amounts of histone proteins were being produced at any one time.