Chahal S S, Matthews H R, Bradbury E M
Nature. 1980 Sep 4;287(5777):76-9. doi: 10.1038/287076a0.
Histone h4 is a highly conserved structural component of the nucleosome subunit of chromatin. The activation of chromatin is accompanied by changes in structure which may be caused by histone modification or by interactions of specific non-histone proteins, or both. Histone H4 can be modified by acetylation and this modification has been correlated with chromosome assembly and with transcription. We have now tested these correlations by studying H4 acetate content as a function of the cell cycle using the naturally synchronous cell cycle in Physarum polycephalum. The results show two clear correlations: (1) tetra-acetylated H4 correlates with transcription; (2) highly acetylated H4 (2 to 4 acetates per molecule) is inversely correlated with H1 phosphorylation and initiation of chromosome condensation in prophase. The results are consistent with turnover of di-acetylated H4 during chromosome assembly in S phase.
组蛋白H4是染色质核小体亚基中高度保守的结构成分。染色质的激活伴随着结构变化，这可能是由组蛋白修饰或特定非组蛋白蛋白质的相互作用，或两者共同作用引起的。组蛋白H4可通过乙酰化进行修饰，这种修饰与染色体组装和转录有关。我们现在通过研究多头绒泡菌自然同步细胞周期中H4乙酸盐含量与细胞周期的关系，来检验这些相关性。结果显示出两个明显的相关性：（1）四乙酰化H4与转录相关；（2）高度乙酰化的H4（每个分子有2至4个乙酰基）与H1磷酸化以及前期染色体凝聚的起始呈负相关。这些结果与S期染色体组装过程中二乙酰化H4的周转情况一致。
