A Chinese hamster ovary cell histone deacetylase that is associated with a unique class of mononucleosomes

The chromatin-bound histone deacetylase of Chinese hamster ovary cells has been studied by using as a substrate an acetylated amino-terminal peptide of histone H4. These studies demonstrate that histone deacetylase activity is associated with mononucleosomes solubilized by digestion with micrococcal nuclease. The deacetylase activity remained bound to the nucleosomes, even in the presence of 1 M NaCl. This unique class of deacetylase-associated mononucleosomes is resolved from the major classes of mononucleosomes by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. These mononucleosomes contain 290 and 190 base pair DNAs and demonstrate the presence of histone H1 and non-histones HMG-1 and HMG-2 and the absence of HMG-14 and HMG-17. They are further characterized by a specific acetylation pattern of histone H4 and likely represent a functionally important chromatin-DNA complex.