Axel R, Cedar H, Felsenfeld G
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Jul;70(7):2029-32. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.7.2029.
The proteins of chromatin serve to restrict the transcription of DNA. The relevance of these findings to the control of gene expression is contingent upon the demonstration that this restriction is specific and mirrors the patterns of RNA synthesis observed in vivo. In this study we demonstrate by RNA-DNA hybridization that the vast majority of the chromatin-directed RNA is synthesized from the unique regions of the reticulocyte genome. Furthermore, by use of the DNA complement of globin mRNA as a probe in annealing reactions, de novo synthesis of globin RNA was detected in RNA transcripts from duck reticulocyte chromatin. No globin sequences were detected in similar preparations of RNA in vitro either from liver chromatin or from DNA freed of protein. These results show that the proteins of chromatin serve to restrict transcription in a very specific manner and provide convincing evidence for the existence of transcriptional control factors in eukaryotes.
染色质蛋白质的作用是限制DNA的转录。这些发现与基因表达调控的相关性取决于能否证明这种限制是特异性的,并且反映了体内观察到的RNA合成模式。在本研究中,我们通过RNA-DNA杂交证明,绝大多数由染色质指导合成的RNA是从网织红细胞基因组的独特区域合成的。此外,在退火反应中,使用珠蛋白mRNA的DNA互补物作为探针,在鸭网织红细胞染色质的RNA转录物中检测到了珠蛋白RNA的从头合成。在来自肝脏染色质或去除蛋白质的DNA的类似体外RNA制备物中未检测到珠蛋白序列。这些结果表明,染色质蛋白质以非常特异的方式限制转录,并为真核生物中存在转录控制因子提供了令人信服的证据。