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Chromatin maturation depends on continued DNA‐replication
Author(s) -
Schlaeger Ernst Jürgen,
Pülm Wolfgang,
Knippers Rolf
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(83)80513-4
Subject(s) - chromatin , thymidine , dna replication , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , dna , nuclease , dna synthesis , genetics
The structure of [ 3 H]thymidine pulse‐labeled chromatin in lymphocytes differs from that of non‐replicating chromatin by several operational criteria which are related to the higher nuclease sensitivity of replicating chromatin. These structural features of replicating chromatin rapidly disappear when the [ 3 H]thymidine pulse is followed by a chase in the presence of an excess of non‐radioactive thymidine. However, when the rate of DNA replication is reduced, as in cycloheximide‐treated lymphocytes, chromatin maturation is retarded. No chromatin maturation is observed when nuclei from pulse‐labeled lymphocytes are incubated in vitro in the absence of DNA precursors. In contrast, when these nuclei are incubated under conditions known to be optimal for DNA replication, the structure of replicating chromatin is efficiently converted to that of ‘mature’, non‐replicating chromatin. We conclude that the properties of nascent DNA and/or the distance from the replication fork are important factors in chromatin maturation.