Periodicity and fragment size of DNA from mouse TLT hepatoma chromatin and chromatin fractions using endogenous and exogenous nucleases

Abstract

The action of micrococcal nuclease, DNase I and DNase II on mouse TLT hepatoma chromatin revealing the periodicity of its structure as visualized by denaturing and non-denaturing gel electrophoresis, was consistent with the action of these enzymes on other chromatins. Micrococcal nuclease showed a complex subnucleosome fragment pattern based on multiples of 10 base pairs with a prominant couplet at 140/160 base pairs and the absence of the 80 base pair fragment. This couplet of the core and minimal nucleosome fragments was conspicuously present in the mononucleosomes found in the 11S fractions of a glycerol gradient centrifugation. DNase I and II produced a fairly even distribution of a 10 base pair increasing series of fragments to about 180 base pairs, a pattern also repeated in the DNA of nucleosome glycerol-gradient fractions. In limited digestions by these nucleases multinucleosomic DNA fragments are pronounced. These fragment lengths are multiples of an estimated average repeat length of nucleosome DNA of 180 base pairs. The action of the endogenous Mg/Ca-stimulated endonuclease produced only limited cuts in the hepatoma chromatin resulting primarily in multi-nucleosomic DNA fragment lengths and only upon lengthy digestion limited subnucleosomic, 10-base-pair multiple fragments are produced. The putative euchromatin-enriched fractions (50-75S) of the glycerol gradient centrifugation of autodigested chromatin, similarly, contained primarily the multinucleosomic DNA fragment lengths. These results are consistent with our previous electron microscopic demonstration that autodigested chromatin as well as the putative euchromatin-enriched fractions were composed of multi-nucleosomic chromatin segments containing a full complement of histones.