[Immunogenic, tissue-specific, antigenic determinants of thymocyte chromatin--firmly bound to nonhistone proteins].

Rat thymocyte chromatin was dissolved in 1.0 or 2.0 M NaCl and the dissociated proteins were separated by ultracentrifugation or gel filtration on Sephadex G-200. Rabbit antibodies against tissue-specific antigenic determinants of thymus chromatin interact with "depleted" deoxynucleoproteins and not with dissociating proteins. The DNA complex with firmly bound proteins obtained in 2 M NaCl was treated with DNAase I; this treatment had no effect on proteins interaction with antibodies. Thus, tissue-specific antigenic determinants can be related to the most firmly bound nonhistone proteins.