Conformation and expression of the albumin gene of young and old rats.

The conformation and expression of the albumin gene in the liver of young (21-) and old (85-week) rats were studied. Digestion of nuclei with MNase shows no differences in the nucleosomal organization in the coding region of the gene in the two ages. The gene has a DNase I hypersensitive site which is distinctly less sensitive in old rats. Its 5'-CCGG-3' sequences are more methylated in the old in which its rate of transcription is also lower.