Photochemical cross-linking of histones to DNA in nucleosomes

Ultraviolet (UV)-induced cross-linking was utilized in order to identify histone-DNA interacting regions in the chromatin repeating unit. Fractionated mononucleosoines which contained 185 base pairs of DNA and a full complement of the histones, including histone H1, were irradiated with light of λ>290nm in the presence of a photosensitizer. Equimolar amounts of histones H2A and H2B were found, by two independent labeling experiments, to be cross-linked to the DNA. Based on previous finding that the UV irradiation specifically cross-links residues which are in close proximity, irrespective of the nature of the amino acid side chain or the nucleotide involved, our results indicate that the four core histones are not positioned equivalently with respect to the DNA. This arrangement allows histones H2A and H2B to preferentially cross-link to the DNA.A water soluble covalent complex of DNA and histones was isolated. This complex was partially resistant to mild nuclease digestion, it exhibited a CD spectrum similar to that of chromatin, and was found to contain hktone H1. These results are compatible with a model which suggests that histone Hi, though anchored to the linker, is bound to the DNA at additional sites. By doing so it spans the whole length of the nucleosome and clamps together the DNA fold around the histone core.